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THE   qUAKER   INVASION 


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MASSACHUSETTS 


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THE   QUAKER   INVASION   OF 
MASSACHUSETTS. 


BY 

RICHARD  P.  HALLOWELL. 


FOURTH  edition: 


BOSTON: 
HOUGHTON,   MIFFLIN  AND    COMPANY. 

New  York:    11  East  Seventeenth   Street. 

1887. 


Copyright,  1883, 
Bt  RICHARD  P.  HALLOWELL. 

All  rights  reserved. 


The  Riverside  Press,  Cambridge  : 
Electrotyped  and  Printed  by  H  0  Houghton  and  Company. 


F 
HIS 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


The  object  of  this  little  volume  is  to  cor- 
rect popular  fallacies  aud  to  assign  to  the 
Quakers  their  true  place  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  Massachusetts.  Any  one  who  con- 
sults it  with  the  expectation  of  finding  a  de- 
tailed and  harrowing  recital  of  every  case 
of  suffering  by  the  Friends  will  be  disap- 
pointed. This  branch  of  the  subject  is 
treated  only  so  far  as  is  necessary  to  illus- 
trate the  mode  of  persecution  resorted  to 
by  the  Colonial  authorities  and  the  spirit 
in  which  it  was  resisted  by  the  Quakers. 

In  addition  to  Puritan  laws  and  other 
documents  already  published  by  the  State, 
the  Appendix  contains  some  very  interest- 
ing evidence  never  before  published,  and 
much  material  which,  while  it  may  be  fa- 


iv  PREFATORY  NOTE. 

miliar  to  students  who  have  made  the  sub- 
ject one  of  special  inquiry,  will  be  both 
new  and  instructive  to  the  general  reader. 

R.  P.  H. 

Boston,  Mass.,  4th  mo.,  1883. 


CONTET^TS, 


CHAPTER  I 

PAGE 

Introductory.  —  The  Rise  of  Quakerism  ....      1 

CHAPTER  H. 

The  Invasion.  —  Measures  of  Resistance  and  De- 
fense     32 

CHAPTER  III. 
The  Warfare 56 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Character  and  Conduct  of  the  Invaders.  —  Mod- 
ern Reviewers  reviewed 69 

CHAPTKR  V. 
The  Cause  of  the  War,  and  its  Results    ....  117 

APPENDIX. 

Colonial  Laws  for  the  Suppression  of  Quakers  ....  133 
Petition  for  Severer  Laws  against  the  Quakers,  October, 

1658 153 

The  Examination  of  Quakers  at  ye  Court  of  Assistants 

in  Boston,  March  7,  1659-60 157 


vi  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

James  Cudworth's  Letter,  -WTitten  in  the  Tenth  Month, 

1658 162 

The  Story  of  Hored  Gardner 172 

Recapitulation  of  the  Sufferings  of  Laurence  and  Cas- 
sandra Southick ITS 

A  Brief  Sketch  of  the  Sufferings  of  Elizabeth  Hooten    .  177 
Order  for  sending  Quakers  out  of  the  Jurisdiction ;  to- 
gether with  the  Petition  of  John  Rouse,  John  Cope- 
land,  Samuel  Shattock  and  others  to  the  King  for 

interference 182 

The  King's  Missive 190 

Order  for  Release  and  Discharge  of  Quaker  Prisoners   .  191 

Subsequent  Legislation  and  Persecution 192 

Trial  of  Margaret  Brewster  and  Others 193 

Abstract  from  Joint  Letter  of  William  Robinson  and 

Marmaduke  Stevenson 202 

Letter  of  Mary  Dyer 206 

Abstract  of  Letter  from  William  Leddra,  written  to  his 

Friends  on  the  Day  before  his  Execution  ....  208 

Daniel  Gould's  Letter 210 

Letter  from  Mary  Traske  and  Margaret  Smith,  accusing 

the  Government 213 

John  Burstow's  Letter 217 

Letter  from  Josiah  Suthick,  a  Quaker,  to  the  .Deputies 

assembled  in  the  General  Court 220 

Sarah  Gibbons  and  Dorothy  Waugh 223 

Index 225 


THE   QUAKER   INVASION   OF 
MASSACHUSETTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

INTRODUCTORY. THE    RISE    OF    QUAKERISM. 

PXJUITANISM,  as  the  word  implies,  origi- 
nated in  an  effort  to  purify  the  Protestant 
Christian  Church.  It  inaugurated  a  reform 
almost  as  radical  as  the  Protestant  Refor- 
mation. 

At  a  later  day  the  name  was  narrowed 
in  its  significance,  and  was  applied  only  to 
those  who  adhered  to  Calvinistic  doctrines 
of  rehgion,  and  attempted  to  establish  both 
in  Old  and  New  England  a  theocracy  based 
upon  the  Mosaic  law  and  other  teachings  of 
the  Old  Testament.  It  was  the  parent, 
however,  from  whose  loins  issued  the  brood 
of  religious  sects  which,  as  we  shall  see, 
divided  the  English  people  into  hostile 
camps,  and  ultimately  bequeathed  to  us  the 
religious  liberty  we  now  enjoy. 


2  THE  QUAKER  INVASION 

Under  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  notwith- 
standing her  repressive  measures,  Puritan- 
ism secured  a  permanent  foothold  in  the 
English  nation,  and  before  the  death  of 
James  I.  it  had  become  a  mighty  power. 
The  introduction  of  the  Bible  into  every 
cottage  in  the  land  inaugurated  a  revolu- 
tion of  which  the  end  is  not  yet.  All 
other  literature  was  subordinated  to  the 
Old  and  New  Testaments.  During  the 
greater  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  the 
people  abandoned  themselves  to  the  con- 
sideration of  questions  appertaining  to  civil 
and  religious  liberty,  and  to  the  solution 
of  religious  problems.  Ecclesiasticism,  in- 
trenched in  the  government,  disputed  with 
bitterness  and  ferocity  every  step  of  the 
people  in  the  direction  of  freedom.  The 
daring  but  abortive  effort  of  Laud  to  bring 
about  a  reconciliation  between  Rome  and 
the  Anglican  Church  contributed  largely 
to  the  overthrow  of  Charles  I.,  and  ended 
in  the  execution  of  both  the  Archbishop 
and  his  master.^  The  bigotiy  and  cruelty 
of  Laud  were  matched  by  the  bigotry  and 
cruelty   of   the   Presbyterian.     Milton    be- 

1  See  account  of  Laud's  trial.    Neal's  History  of  the  Puri- 
tans, Toulmin's  edition,  vol.  iii.  p.  231. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  3 

queatlied  to  us  an  epigram  that  will  live 
until  religious  intolerance  ceases  to  plague 
the  world.  It  runs,  "  new  Presbyter  is  but 
old  Priest  writ  large." 

During  the  period  of  the  Commonwealth 
toleration  was  fostered  by  the  genius  of  Sir 
Harry  Vane,  and  in  a  measure  by  Oliver 
Cromwell,  but  during  those  years  and  the 
succeeding  reigns  of  Charles  II.  and  James 
II.,  coercion  and  persecution,  as  well  as 
political  intrigue,  played  a  conspicuous  part 
in  the  vain  effort  to  stay  the  progress  of 
free  inquiry  and  to  arrest  the  development 
of  liberal  principles.  Dissent  increased 
under  the  stimulus  of  restraint  and  perse- 
cution. The  middle  of  the  century  was  a 
period  of  intense  excitement.  The  spirit  of 
controversy  seemed  to  possess  all  classes. 
Thousands  of  controversial  books  and  tracts 
were  published.  Parliament  turned  aside 
from  the  consideration  of  state  affairs  to 
discuss  questions  of  religion.  The  courts  of 
justice  were  continually  the  arena  of  relig- 
ious debate.  Itinerant  preachers  addressed 
multitudes  of  eager  men  and  women  in  pub- 
lic houses,  in  the  market-place,  in  barns, 
and  in  the  open  fields.  The  churches  were 
filled  with  congregations  gathered  not  only 


4  THE  QUAKER  INVASION 

to  bear  aggressive  sermons  delivered  by  reg- 
ular pastors,  but  to  listen  to  the  harangues 
of  speakers  representing  other  sects.  At 
Leicester,  in  1648,  no  less  than  four  differ- 
ent sects  met  in  the  parish  church  for  the 
purpose  of  religious  disputation.  Officers 
of  the  Parliament  army,  after  exhorting 
their  soldiers  in  camp-meetings,  visited 
the  churches  and  there  assumed  the  7'6Ie  of 
clergymen.  One  of  the  tenets  of  the  Inde- 
pendents was  that  "  any  gifted  brother,  if 
he  find  himself  qualified  thereto,  may  in- 
struct, exhort,  and  preach  in  the  church," 
and  laymen  constantly  had  access  to  the 
pulpit.  It  was  not  uncommon  for  some 
one,  after  the  usual  service,  to  rise  in  his 
place  and  proceed  with  his  own  exposition 
of  the  law  and  the  gospel.  This  was  done 
by  Episcopal  divines  as  well  as  by  non-con- 
formists. It  is  on  record  that,  in  1656,  Dr. 
Gunning,  afterwards  Regius  Professor  of 
Divinity  at  Cambridge  and  Bishop  of  Ely, 
went  into  the  congregation  of  John  Biddle, 
"  the  father  of  English  Unitarians,"  and  be- 
gan a  dispute  with  him.^ 

George  Fox  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  the 
"  steeple-house."    On  very  rare  occasions  he 

1  Supplement  to  Neal,  vol.  iii.  p.  556. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  5 

imitated  the  example  of  the  Bishop,  but  it 
was  his  custom  to  wait  quietly  until  the 
minister  had  ended,  when  he  would  often 
be  invited  to  speak.  The  sects  grew  and 
multiplied.  The  enumeration  of  them  as 
classified  by  Masson  ^  is  well  worth  repro- 
duction. Beside  the  Papist  who  was  faithful 
to  Rome  and  the  Churchman  who  was  loyal 
to  the  bishops,  there  were  Presbyterians, 
Independents,  Baptists  or  Anabaptists,  Old 
Brownists,  Antinomians,  Familists,  Mille- 
naries or  Chiliasts,  Expecters  and  Seekers, 
Divorcers,  Anti  -  Sabbatarians,  Traskites, 
Soul-Sleepers  or  Mortalists,  Arians,  Socini- 
ans  and  other  Anti-Trinitarians,  Anti-Scrip- 
turists.  Skeptics  or  Questionists,  Atheists, 
Fifth  Monarchy  Men,  Ranters,  The  Mug- 
gletonians,  Boehmenists,  and  Quakers  or 
Friends. 

The  ferment  of  religious  and  irreligious 
speculation  was  something  prodigious.  In 
1645  one  Thomas  Edwards,  a  prominent 
Presbyterian,  who  is  described  as  a  "  fluent, 
rancorous,  indefatigable,  inquisitorial,  and, 
on  the  whole,  nasty  kind  of  Christian,"  pub- 
lished the  "  Gangrffina,"  a  catalogue  of  one 
hundred  and  seventy-six  miscellaneous  "  er- 

1  Life  of  Milton,  vol.  iii.  pp.  143-159 ;  vol.  v.  pp.  15-28. 


6  THE  QUAKER  INVASION 

rors,  heresies,  and  blasphemies  "  of  the  sec- 
taries, and  during  the  following  ten  years 
many  others  might  have  been  added  to  the 
list. 

Mysticism  and  materialism,  devout  piety 
and  impious  scoffing,  noble  conceptions  and 
shallow  theories  of  liberty,  honest  self-abne- 
gation and  Pecksniffian  cant,  all  found  utter- 
ance in  the  babel  of  voices  that  resounded 
through  the  nation.  It  was  an  age  when, 
as  Milton  phrases  it,  men  undertook  "  to  re- 
assume  the  ill-deputed  care  of  their  religion 
into  their  own  hands  again." 

Inevitably,  in  such  a  transition  period, 
fanaticism  played  a  conspicuous  part.  It 
manifested  itself  in  whipping,  scourging, 
mutilation  of  the  bodies  of  offenders,  in  long 
imprisonments,  —  some  men  and  women  liv- 
ing for  years  in  noisome  and  filthy  gaols,  — 
and  in  the  confiscation  and  destruction  of 
property.  Weak  minds  were  unhinged  by 
it,  and  men  of  strong  intellects,  and  ordi- 
narily of  sober  judgment,  defended  and  even 
committed  excesses,  both  in  speech  and  ac- 
tion, that  to  us,  when  they  do  not  seem  su- 
premely ridiculous,  are  simply  incredible. 

Robert  Barclay,  author  of  the  well-known 
"  Apology,"  an  able  "  explanation  and  vin- 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  7 

dication  "  of  Quakerism,  was  one  of  the  few 
controversial  writers  of  that  period  whose 
books  are  still  read  with  interest  and  profit. 
He  was  the  peer  of  the  best  scholars,  an  ad- 
mirable logician,  and  subtle  even  to  profun- 
dity. A  contemporary  describes  him  as  a 
man  "  sound  in  judgment,  strong  in  argu- 
ment, cheerful  in  sufferings,  of  a  pleasant 
disposition,  yet  solid,  plain,  and  exemplary 
in  convex'sation.  He  was  a  learned  man,  a 
good  Christian,  and  able  minister,  a  dutiful 
son,  a  loving  husband,  a  tender  and  careful 
father,  an  easy  master,  and  good,  kind  neigh- 
bor and  friend." 

It  taxes  our  credulity  to  believe  that  such 
a  man,  even  in  such  an  age,  could,  in  any 
serious  degree,  be  possessed  by  the  spirit  of 
fanaticism,  but  even  as  late  as  1672,  being 
overpowered  by  a  sense  of  what  he  con- 
ceived to  be  religious  duty,  he  walked 
through  the  streets  of  Aberdeen  covered 
with  sack-cloth  and  ashes.  We  read  with 
a  feeling  of  pity  akin  to  sympathy,  his  ex- 
planatory address  to  the  people.  "  I  was," 
he  says,  "  commanded  of  the  Lord  God  .  . . 
great  was  the  agony  of  my  spirit  ...  I  be- 
sought the  liOrd  with  tears,  that  this  cup 
might   pass   away  from   me  .  .  .  and  this 


8  THE  QUAKER  INVASION 

was  the  end  and  tendency  of  my  testimony, 
—  to  call  you  to  repentance  by  this  signal 
and  singuKr  step,  which  I,  as  to  my  own 
will  and  inclination,  was  as  unwilling  to  be 
found  in,  as  the  worst  and  most  wicked  of 
you  can  be  averse  from  receiving  or  laying 
it  to  heart."  He  further  explains  that  he 
acted  "  after  the  manner  of  some  of  the  an- 
cient prophets,  and  with  similar  motives." 
It  was  accounted  a  great  virtue  by  the  Puri- 
tans to  imitate  the  ancient  prophets,  and 
they  searched  their  Bibles  for  names  as  well 
as  for  example  and  divine  law. 

Hebrew  names  were  almost  as  familiar 
to  the  ears  of  that  generation  as  the  names 
of  Patrick  and  Bridget  are  to  our  own.  It 
was  said  that  the  genealogy  of  Jesus  might 
be  learned  from  the  names  in  Cromwell's 
regiments,  and  that  the  muster-master  used 
no  other  list  than  the  first  chapter  of  Mat- 
thew.^ 

In  Brome's  "  Travels,"  a  book  published 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  author,  with  evident  intent  to  ridicule 
these  manifestations  of  pious  enthusiasm, 
professes  to  have  seen  the  following  names 
on  a  jury  list  in  Sussex :  "  Accepted  Tre- 

1  Neal,  vol.  iv.  p.  96. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  9 

vor,  Redeemed  Compton,  Faint-not  Hewit, 
Make-Peace  Heaton,  God-Reward  Smart, 
Hope-for  Bending,  Earth  Adams,  Called 
Lower,  Kill-Sin  Pimple,  Return  Spelman, 
Be-Faithful  Joiner,  Fly-Debate  Roberts, 
Figbt-the-good-Figbt-of-Faith  Wbite,  More- 
Fruit  Fowler,  Stand-Fast-on-Higb  Stringer, 
Graceful  Herding,  Weep-not  Billing,  and 
Meek  Brewer."  Neal,  Hume,  and  otber 
historians  accept  tbis  list  as  one  of  genuine 
baptismal  names.  Forster,  in  his  "  States- 
men of  England,"  recognizes  its  true  charac- 
ter, but  believes  that  Brome  was  the  victim 
of  a  joke,  and  that  he  reports  the  names  in 
good  faith.  It  is  more  probable,  however, 
that  he  was  the  perpetrator,  not  the  victim 
of  the  jest,  for  after  reciting  the  list,  he  says 
soberly,  and  as  if  to  justify  his  humor,  "  I 
myself  have  known  some  persons  in  London 
and  other  parts  of  this  kingdom  who  have 
been  christianed  by  the  names  of  Faith, 
Hope,  Charity,  Mercy,  Grace,  Obedience, 
Endure,  and  Rejoice,"  and  he  might  have 
added,  Praise-God,  for  such  was  the  name 
of  a  member  of  Oliver  Cromwell's  Parlia- 
ment. 

Fanaticism  revived  old  and  enacted  new 
laws  under  which  churches  and  cathedrals 


10  TEE    QUAKER  INVASION 

were  despoiled  with  ruthless  barbarism  :  im- 
ages, pictures,  painted  glass,  organs,  copes, 
and  fonts  were  mutilated  or  destroyed. 
Frenzied  and  pious  Puritans  drove  horses, 
swine,  and  calves  into  the  chui'ches  and 
baptized  them  with  mock  solemnity.  They 
tore  up  the  surplice  as  a  remnant  of  Baby- 
lon and  burned  the  book  of  "  Common 
Prayer."  ^  In  the  Puritan  "  Anatomy  of 
the  Service-Booke  "  we  read,  "As  they  are 
altars  of  Baal,  erected  and  maintained  by 
Baalites  or  Balaamites,  so  they,  and  all  their 
ceremoniall  accoutrements,  and  the  Service- 
Booke  itself,  are  an  abomination."  The 
Litany  is  st^'led,  "  not  the  least  sinful,  but 
rather  the  most  offensive  "  part  of  the  Lit- 
urgy.2 

Bible  phraseology  was  incorporated  into 
ordinary  speech;  tracts  and  treatises  were 
full  of  it,  orators  adopted  it,  state  papers 
and  proclamations  were  embodied  in  it. 
Scriptural  and  unscriptural  denunciation 
and  invective  were  legitimate  weapons  of 
warfare,  and  the  pens  of  controversialists 
were  often  dipped  in  gall.  Not  only  igno- 
rant and  obscure  writers,  but  men  conspicu- 

1  Marsden's  Later  Puritans,  pp.  55-57.     Brome,  p.  25S 
Coit's  Puritanism,  p.  61. 

2  Ck)it,  pp.  51-59. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  ll 

ousfor  their  piety,  learning,  and  refinement, 
used  language  bitter,  harsh,  extravagant, 
and  offensive  to  good  taste.  The  Rev.  Dr. 
Daniel  Featley,  a  Presbyterian  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  historic  Assembly  of  Divines  at 
Westminster,  published  a  tract  in  1644, 
entitled  "  The  Dippers  dipt ;  or  the  Ana- 
baptists ducked  and  plunged  over  head  and 
ears  at  a  disputation  in  Southwark,"  in 
which  he  calls  the  Baptists  an  idle  and  sot- 
tish sect ;  a  lying  and  blasphemous  sect ;  an 
impure  and  carnal  sect ;  a  bloody  and  cruel 
sect ;  a  profane  and  sacrilegious  sect.^  In 
the  same  year  he  petitioned  the  House  of 
Lords  that  John  Milton  might  be  cut  off 
as  a  pestilent  Anabaptist. 

Prynne  ridiculed  the  church  choir  in  set 
terms.  He  said,  "  Choristers  bellow  the 
tenor,  as  it  were  oxen  ;  bark  a  counterpart, 
as  it  were  a  kennel  of  dogs  ;  roar  out  a 
treble,  as  it  were  a  sort  of  bulls ;  and  grunt 
out  a  bass,  as  it  were  a  number  of  hogs."  ^ 

Milton  says  of  the  bishops,  "  they  .  .  . 
shall  be  thrown  down  eternally  into  the 
darkest  and  deepest  gulf  of  hell  .  .  .  the 
trample  and  spurn  of  all  the  other  damned 

1  Quoted  in  Ivimey's  Milton,  p.  104. 
3  Quoted  in  Coit's  Puritanism,  p.  455. 


12  THE   QUAKER  INVASION 

.  .  .  shall  exercise  a  raving  and  bestial  tyr- 
anny over  tbem  .  .  .  they  shall  remain  in 
that  plight  forever,  the  basest,  the  lower- 
most, the  most  dejected  and  down-trodden 
vassals  of  perdition."  ^  In  his  reply  to  Sal- 
masius,  who,  in  1649,  published  a  vindica- 
tion of  Charles  I.,  he  calls  him  a  "  pimp  '^ 
and  a  "  starving  rascal,"  and  denounces 
him  in  quaint  but  vigorous  verse  thus:  — 

"And  in  Rome's  praise  employ  his  poisoned  breath, 
Who  threatened  once  to  stink  the  Pope  to  death."  2 

It  would  be  both  pleasant  and  profitable 
to  pause  a  moment  to  contemplate  Puritan- 
ism in  its  larger  and  nobler  aspect,  but  it 
has  a  place  in  this  treatise  only  so  far  as 
it  relates  to  Quakerism.  The  preceding 
sketch  of  the  religious  enthusiasm  and  fa- 
naticism that  marked  its  rise  and  progress, 
it  is  hoped,  will  serve  a  twofold  purpose. 
Though  necessarily^  incomplete,  it  will  aid 
us  to  a  better  understanding  of  .the  nature 
and  significance  of  the  conflict  between  the 
Founders  of  Massachusetts  and  the  Qua- 
kers, when  we  come  to  consider  it,  and  in 
the  mean  time  it  will,  in  a  measure,  indi- 
cate some  of  the  conditions  under  which 
Quakerism  was  developed. 

1  Coit,  p.  455.  •^  Ivimey,  p.  146. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  33 

George  Fox  was  the  founder  of  the  sect, 
■"-^acaulay,  utterly  unable  to  understand  or  ; 
appreciate  this  remarkable  man,  can  "  see 
no  reason  for  placing  him,  morall}'  or  in- 
tellectually, above  Ludowick  Muggleton  or 
Joanna  Southcote."  He  thinks  his  intel- 
lect was  "  too  much  disordered  for  liberty, 
and  not  sufficiently  disordered  for  Bedlam^"  , 
Carlyle,  with  a  deeper  insight,  recognizes 
in  Fox  a  religious  genius  nud  reformer. 
"  This  man,  by  trade  a  shoemaker,"  he 
says,  "  was  one  of  those  to  whom,  under 
ruder  or  purer  form,  the  Divine  Idea  of 
the  Universe  is  pleased  to  manifest  itself, 
.  .  .  who  therefore  are  rightly  accounted 
Prophets,  God-possessed.  .  .  .  Let  some 
living  Angelo  or  Rosa,  with  seeing  eye 
and  understanding  heart,  picture  George 
Fox  on  that  morning  when  he  spreads  out 
his  cutting-board  for  the  last  time,  and  cuts 
cowhides  by  unwonted  patterns,  and  stitches 
them  together  into  one  continuous  case,  the 
farewell  service  of  his  awl !  Stitch  away, 
thou  noble  Fox  ;  every  prick  of  that  little 
instrument  is  pricking  into  the  heart  of 
slavery  and  World-worshijD,  and  the  Mam- 
mon god.  Thy  elbows  jerk,  as  in  strong 
swimmer's  strokes,  and  every  stroke  is  bear- 


14  THE    QUjLKER  invasion 

ing  thee  across  the  Prison-ditch,  within 
which  Vanity  holds  her  Work-house  and 
Rag-fair,  into  hinds  of  true  Liberty  ;  were 
the  work  done,  there  is  in  broad  Europe 
y  one  Free  Man,  and  thou  art  he  !  "  Fox's 
-'  parents  were  members  of  the  Estabhshed 
Church,  and  were  noted  for  their  probity 
and  piety.  He  was  born  in  Leicestershire, 
England,  in  1624.  His  school  education 
was  limited  and  insufficient.  Very  early 
in  life  he  manifested  a  serious  disposition, 
sometimes  bordering  upon  melancholy.  His 
pious  mother,  instead  of  luring  him  on  to 
the  enjoyment  of  childish  sports,  encour- 
aged his  precocity,  and,  as  a  consequence, 
he  was  never  a  boy  in  anything  but  years. 
The  child  was  father  of  the  man.  He  was 
honest  almost  to  a  fault.  He  would  not  re- 
sent an  affront,  but  never  flinched  in  times 
of  trial.  "  Verily,"  with  him,  stood  for 
protestation  and  determination,  and  it  was 
a  common  remark  among  his  companions, 
that,  "  if  George  says  '  Verily,'  there  is  no 
altering  him."  At  the  age  of  nineteen,  and. 
for  three  continuous  years,  he  experienced 
mental  suffering  that  would  have  unseated 
an  intellect  less  vigorous  and  rugged.  He 
withdrew  from  all  companionship,  but  was 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  15 

soon  made  miserable  by  the  reflection  that 
he  had  forsaken  his  relations.  Returning 
home,  he  spent  much  of  his  time  in  solitary 
meditation  and  prayer.  The  Bible  was  his 
favorite,  and.  almost  his  only  study.  His 
condition,  he  tells  us,  was  often  one  of  ab- 
solute despair.  He  consulted  preachers  of 
the  various  denominations,  but  found  them 
"  miserable  comforters."  He  likens  them 
to  "  an  empty,  hollow  cask."  The  outcome 
of  this  mental  conflict  was  the  conviction 
that  the  paramount  object  of  human  exist- 
ence is  to  get  into  a  proper  spiritual  relation 
with  the  Creator.  The  moral  faculties  are 
to  be  quickened,  the  law  of  Love  must  gov- 
ern our  relations  with  our  fellow-men  ;  but 
a  spiritual  oneness  with  the  Deity  attained, 
the  rest  would  follow  as  naturally  as  light 
follows  the  rising  sun.  He  learned  that 
the  divine  law  is  written  upon  the  hearts 
of  men  ;  and  that  to  construe  or  interpret 
it  correctly,  he  must  give  heed  to  the  voice 
of  God  in  his  own  soul.  His  mission  was 
now  revealed  to  him.  "  I  was  commis- 
sioned," he  says,  "  to  turn  people  to  that 
Inwai'd  Light  —  even  that  Divine  Spirit 
which  would  lead  men  to  all  truth." 
"Y-This  doctrine  of  the  Inward  Light  was 


16  TEE    QUAKER   INVASION 

the  corner-stone  upon  which  Fox  buildeJ 
and  upon  which  Quakerism  rests.  It  was 
no  new  doctrine.  Neither  Fox  nor  his  as- 
sociates hud  claim  to  a  discovery.  It  was 
older  than  Christianity  itself,  but  since  the 
days  of  Jesus  and  his  followers,  it  had  been 
a  mere  theory,  subordinate  to  doctrines  em- 
bodied in  the  creeds.  Jesus,  in  substance, 
taught  the  same  lesson,  but  the  Christian 
Church  had  forgotten  it.  Christ  had  come 
to  be  God,  and  the  Bible  the  only  revealed 
word.  Fox  sought  to  restore  primitive 
Christianity  by  calling  upon  men  not  to 
forsake  Jesus,  but  to  worship  God  and  to 
realize,  in  full,  the  relation  to  Him  implied 
when  we  call  him  Father.  The  epithet, 
heretic,  has  so  often  been  applied  to  the 
early  Quakers  that  it  is  frequently  assumed 
that  they  formally  denied  and  denounced 
theological  opinions  alleged  to  be  funda- 
mental. This  is  a  serious  error.  It  is  true 
they  were  not  creed  bound.  "  Where  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty,"  and 
liberty  of  conscience,  liberty  to  think  and  to 
speak,  not  only  found  protection  in  a  Quaker 
meeting,  but  zealous  advocates  and  defend- 
ers wherever  a  Quaker  voice  was  heard. 
Such    liberty   inevitably    develops    variety 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  17 

of  opinion,  and  there  was  more  latitude 
among  the  Friends  than  within  the  narrower 
limits  of  other  sects.  They  all,  however,  be- 
lieved in  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost ;  in 
Christ  the  Saviour ;  in  the  atonement ;  in  the 
resurrection ;  and  in  the  inspiration  of  the 
Bible.  Nevertheless,  they  held  that  "  the 
letter  killeth,  but  the  Spirit  giveth  life," 
and  that  to  interpret  the  written  word, 
men  must  be  inspired  by  the  Spirit  that 
guided  the  hands  of  those  who  wrote  it. 
Fox  said  "  the  holy  men  of  God  wrote  the 
Scriptures  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  and  all  Christendom  are  on  heaps 
about  those  Scriptures,  because  they  are 
not  led  by  the  same  Holy  Ghost  as  those 
were  that  gave  forth  the  Scriptures  ;  which 
Holy  Ghost  they  must  come  to  in  them- 
selves and  be  led  by,  if  they  come  into  all 
the  truth  of  them."  Barclay,  in  his  "  Apol- 
ogy," declares,  "  We  do  firmly  believe  that 
there  is  no  other  gospel  to  be  preached,  but 
that  which  was  delivered  by  the  apostles. 
.  .  .  We  distinguish  betwixt  a  revelation 
of  a  new  gospel  and  new  doctrines,  and  a 
new  revelation  of  the  good  old  gospel  and 
doctrines ;  the  last  we  plead  for,  but  the 
first  we  utterly  deny."  He  is  careful,  how- 
2 


18  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

ever,  to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the 
Spirit,  and  in  this  connection  he  assures 
the  reader  that  some  of  his  friends,  "  who 
not  only  were  ignorant  of  the  Greek  and 
Hebrew,  but  even  some  of  them  could  not 
read  their  own  vulgar  language,  who  being 
pressed  by  their  adversaries  with  some  cita- 
tions out  of  the  English  translation,  and 
finding  them  to  disagree  with  the  manifes- 
tation of  truth  in  their  own  hearts,  have 
boldly  affirmed  the  Spii'it  of  God  never 
said  so,  and  that  it  was  certainl}^  wrong  ; 
for  they  did  not  believe  that  any  of  the 
holy  prophets  or  apostles  had  ever  written 
so;  which,  when  I,  on  this  account,  seri- 
ously examined,  I  really  found  to  be  errors 
and  corruptions  of  the  translators;  who  (as 
in  most  translations)  do  not  so  much  give 
us  the  genuine  signification  of  the  words, 
as  strain  them  to  express  that  which  comes 
nearest  to  that  opinion  and  notion  they 
have  of  truth."  On  another  page  he  says 
the  Scriptures  "  may  be  esteemed  a  second- 
ary rule,  subordinate  to  the  Spirit,  from 
which  they  have  all  their  excellency  and 
certainty  ;  for  as  by  the  inward  testimony 
of  the  Spirit  we  do  alone  trul}'^  know  them, 
so  they  testify  that  the  Spirit  is  that  Guide 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  19 

by  which  the  saints  are  led  into  all  truth ; 
therefore,  according  to  the  Scriptures,  the 
Spirit  is  the  first  and  principal  leader." 

The  famous  Richard  Baxter,  in  a  discus- 
sion with  some  Quakers,  referring  to  this 
Inward  Light,  asked  them,  "  If  all  have  it, 
why  may  not  I  have  it?  "  And  a  learned 
Unitarian  clergyman  of  Boston  calls  this 
"  one  of  his  most  pertinent  questions."  If 
so,  Baxter  must  have  been  sorely  pressed 
and  at  his  wit's  end  for  argument,  for  the 
Quakers  could  not  too  strongly  urge  the 
universality  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  their 
response  no  doubt  was,  that  having  it,  he 
should  heed  it.  Heed  it,  friend  Baxter,  and 
it  will  lead  thee  into  all  truth.  The  diffi- 
culty lay  in  his  denial  of  it. 

The  logic  of  this  cardinal  principle  of 
Quakerism  led  straight  to  repudiation  of 
the  authority  of  an  ordained  ministry,  to 
the  withdi'awal  from  church  membership, 
and  the  refusal  to  pay  church  tithes.  In- 
tellectual training  alone  cannot  fit  men  to 
be  religious  teachers.  The  Spirit  of  God 
must  first  illuminate  their  souls  and  sanc- 
tify their  lives.  The  Puritans  rebelled 
against  prelacy,  and  held  in  special  abhor- 
rence the  forms  and  ceremonies  borrowed 


20  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

from  Rome  by  the  Englisli  Church.  Com- 
ing into  power,  they  established  their  own 
church  and  compelled  an  unwilling  people 
to  conform  to  and  support  it.  The  Quakers 
probed  deeper.  They  rebelled  against  prel- 
ate and  presbyter  alike.  They  claimed 
not  toleration,  but  liberty  of  conscience  for 
all  as  an  inalienable  right ;  they  demanded 
the  absolute  separation  of  Church  and 
State;  denounced  the  clergy  as  priests  and 
hirelings,  and  in  spite  of  fiendish  persecu- 
tion refused  to  acknowledge  their  authority 
or  to  contribute  so  much  as  a  farthing  to 
their  maintenance.  Where  the  Sj)irit  of 
the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty ;  and  the  spirit 
o£  liberty  was  infectious.  Others  as  well 
as  the  Quakers  asserted  the  religious  equal- 
ity of  men  and  the  sufficiency  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  and  with  stinging  invective  exposed 
the  pretenses  of  pious  charlatans.  In  1658, 
John  Milton,  in  an  address  to  Parliament, 
said,  "For  now  commonly  he  that  desires  to 
be  a  minister  looks  not  at  the  work  but  at 
the  wages  ...  it  were  much  better  there 
were  not  one  divine  in  the  university,  nor 
no  school  divinity  known;  the  idle  sophis- 
try of  monks,  the  canker  of  religion.  .  .  . 
But  most  of  all  are  they  to  be  reviled  and 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  21 

shunned  who  cry  out  with  the  distinct  voice 
of  hirelings,  that  if  you  settle  not  our  main- 
tenance by  laws,  farewell  the  gospel ;  than 
whicli  nothing  can  be  more  ignominious, 
and,  I  may  say,  more  blasphemous  against 
our  Saviour,  who  hath  promised  without 
this  condition  both  his  Holy  Spirit  and  his 
own  presence  with  his  church  to  the  world's 
end."  He  continues,  "  Of  which  hireling 
even,  together  with  all  the  mischiefs,  dis- 
sensions, troubles,  wars,  merely  of  their  own 
kindling,  Christendom  might  soon  rid  her^ 
self  and  be  happy,  if  Christians  would  but 
know  their  own  dignity,  their  liberty,  their 
adoption,  and  let  it  not  be  wondered  if  I 
say  their  spiritual  priesthood,  whereby  they 
have  all  equally  access  to  any  ministerial 
functions  whenever  called  by  their  own 
abilities  and  the  church,  though  they  never 
came  near  commencement  or  university." 

These  bold,  brave  words  might  well  have 
been  uttered  by  Fox,  or  Burrough,  or 
Thomas  EUwood,  the  Quaker  reader  to  the 
blind  old  poet. 

With  remarkable  unanimity  the  early 
Quakers  held  many  views  of  religious  ob- 
ligation that  brought  them  into  direct  con- 
flict with  the  civil  authorities  and   social 


22  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

usasfes.  These  views  were  known  as  "  tes- 
timonies,"  and  later,  when  an  organization 
was  effected,  they  were  incorporated  into 
■what  is  known  as  the  Discipline  of  the  So- 
ciety. Church  ordinances,  baptism,  com- 
munion table,  prayer-book,  were  contemned. 
Silent  meditation,  interrupted  only  by  a 
short  prayer  or  exhortation  by  one  or  more 
of  them,  who,  perchance,  were  moved  by 
the  Spirit,  constituted  their  only  form  of 
■worship.  They  substituted  simple  affirma- 
tion for  the  oath,  defending  the  innovation 
with  apt  and  telling  quotations  from  Scrip- 
ture. They  held  meetings  for  worshij),  and 
were  generally  careful  to  abstain  from  all 
unnecessary  secular  employment  on  the  first 
day  of  the  week,  but  they  did  not  regard 
it  as  especially  the  "  Lord's  day."  They 
claimed  that  "  all  days  are  alike  holy  in 
the  sight  of  God."  They  regarded  the  use 
of  the  plural  number  in  addressing  one  per- 
son as  a  species  of  flattery,  and  adopted  the 
simple  thee  and  thou  of  the  Bible.  Your 
Holiness,  Your  Grace,  Your  Honor,  etc., 
were  "  flattering  titles,"  and  therefore  they 
addressed  all  men  by  their  Christian  names 
only.  They  declared  "  that  it  is  not  lawful 
for  Christians  to  kneel  or  prostrate  them- 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  23 

selves  to  any  man,  or  to  bow  the  body,  or 
to  uncover  the  head  to  men.  That  it  is  not 
lawful  for  a  Christian  to  use  superfluities  in 
apparel,  as  are  of  no  use,  save  for  ornament 
and  vanity.  That  it  is  not  lawful  to  use 
games,  sports,  plays,  nor,  among  other  things, 
comedies,  among  Christians,  under  the  no- 
tion of  recreations,  which  do  not  agree  with 
Christian  silence,  gravity,  and  sobriety." 
They  considered  war  "  an  evil  as  opposite 
and  contrary  to  the  Spirit  and  doctrine  of 
Christ  as  light  to  darkness,"  and  they  would 
not  fight.  They  laid  particular  emphasis 
upon  the  sacredness  of  the  married  rela- 
tion, nevertheless  their  bigoted  persecutors 
denounced  Quaker  marriages  as  illegal,  until, 
in  1661,  the  courts  confirmed  the  legality  of 
such  marriages.  Even  as  careful  a  writer 
as  Masson  says  "they  had  no  religious  cere- 
mony in  sanction  of  marriage."  ^  Professor 
Masson,  as  his  context  proves,  had  ample 
opportunity  to  avoid  this  blunder,  and  it 
can  only  be  accounted  for  on  the  theory 
that  his  mind  is  prejudiced  by  the  still  pop- 
ular notion  that  the  presence  and  oflices 
of  an  ordained  minister  are  necessary  to 
make  a  marriage  ceremony   religious    and 

1  Lift  of  Milton,  vol.  v  p.  25. 


24  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

to  secure  the  Divine  sanction  of  the  nup- 
tial rites.  The  Quakers  thought  otherwise. 
They  repudiated  the  claims  of  the  ck^-gy, 
and  beheved  that  God  alone  can  join  men 
and  women  in  the  solemn  covenant.  "  It 
is  their  custom,"  says  Sewel,  "  first  having 
the  consent  of  the  parents  or  guardians 
.  .  .  and  after  due  inquiry,  all  things  ap- 
pearing clear,  they  in  a  public  meeting  sol- 
eujul}^  take  each  other  in  marriage,  with  a 
promise  of  love  and  fidelity,  and  not  to 
leave  one  another  before  death  separates 
them.  Of  this  a  certificate  is  drawn,  men- 
tioning the  names  and  distinctions  of  the 
persons  thus  joined,  which,  being  first  signed 
by  themselves,  those  then  that  are  present 
sign  as  witnesses."  ^  This  custom  is  still 
in  force,  and,  with  some  unimportant  ver- 
bal amendments,  the  phraseology  of  early 
Friends  is  still  preserved.  After  an  appro- 
priate silence,  the  groom  and  bride  rise,  and 
taking  each  other  by  the  hand,  each  in  turn 
repeats,  "  In  the  presence  of  the  Lord  and 
this  assembly,  I  take  thee  to  be  my  wife 
(or  husband),  promising,  with  Divine  assist- 
ance, to  be  unto  thee  a  loving  and  faithful 
husband  (or  wife)  until  death  shall  separate 

1  Histuru  of  the  Quakers,  p.  777. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  25 

US."  For  religious  solemnity  ;iud  tender, 
touching  simplicity,  tbe  Quaker  marriage 
ceremony  has  always  challenged  compari- 
son, and  if  any  one  desires  to  feel  and  real- 
ize tlie  presence  of  God  in  a  public  or  pri- 
vate gathering,  let  him  attend  a  Quaker 
wedding. 

One  of  the  most  popular  slanders  current 
is  the  charge  that  the  early  Quakers  held 
all  civil  authority  in  contempt  and  were 
willful  law-breakers.  So  far  from  this,  they 
were  an  eminently  law-abiding  people,  and 
had  profound  respect  for  the  office  of  the 
civil  magistrate.  For  the  insignia  of  office 
they  had,  perhaps,  too  little  regard,  but 
to  law  on  which  social  order  and  well-be- 
ing depend,  they  showed  a  most  exemplary 
fidelity.  George  Fox  said,  "  Magistracy  is 
for  the  praise  of  them  that  do  well.  .  .  . 
Magistrates  are  for  the  punishment  of  evil- 
doers. .  .  .  We  are  not  against,  but  stand  for 
all  good  government."  Edward  Burrough, 
in  1658,  wrote  to  Richard  Cromwell,  "As 
for  magistracy,  it  was  ordained  of  God  to  be 
a  dread  and  terror  and  limit  to  evil-doei's, 
and  to  be  a  defense  and  praise  to  all  that  do 
well,  to  condemn  the  guilty  and  to  justify 
the  guiltless."      In  an    interview  with  the 


26  THE   QUAKER  INVASION 

King,  in  1660,  Richard  Hubberthorn  said, 
"  Thus  do  we  own  magisti-ates  ;  whatsoever 
is  set  up  by  God,  whether  king,  as  supreme, 
or  any  set  in  authority  by  him,  who  are  for 
the  punishment  of  evil-doers,  and  the  praise 
of  them  that  do  well,  such  shall  we  submit 
unto  and  assist  in  righteous  and  civil  things, 
both  by  body  and  estate,  and  if  any  magis- 
trates do  that  which  is  unrighteous,  we  must 
declare  against  it,  only  submit  under  it  by 
a  patient  suffering  and  not  rebel  against 
any  by  insurrections,  plots,  and  contriv- 
ances." Barclay's  statement  of  the  attitude 
of  the  early  Quakers  toward  the  civil  law 
and  the  magistracy  is  equally  clear  and  defi- 
nite. He  said,  "  Since  God  hath  assumed 
to  himself  the  power  and  dominion  of  con- 
science, who  alone  can  righth^  instruct  and 
govern  it,  therefore  it  is  not  lawful  for  any 
whosoever,  by  virtue  of  any  authority  or 
principality  they  bear  in  the  government 
of  this  world,  to  force  the  consciences  of 
others,  .  .  .  providing  always,  that  no  man, 
under  the  pretense  of  conscience,  prejudice 
his  neighbor  in  his  life  or  estate,  or  do  any- 
thing destructive  to,  or  inconsistent  with, 
human  society ;  in  which  case  the  law  is  for 
the  transgressor,  and  justice  is  to  be  admin- 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  27 

istered  upon  all  without  respect  of  persons." 
Perhaps  it  should  be  stated  here  that  be- 
cause Barclay  was  a  highly  educated  gen- 
tleman, and  wrote  his  best  known  works 
as  late  as  1673-76,  some  modern  critics  in- 
sinuate, if  they  do  not  broadly  affirm,  that 
he  does  not  fairly  represent  the  Quakerism 
of  1656  to  1662.  Such  criticism  is  fla- 
grantly unjust.  It  is  alleged  that  "  the 
crude  and  indigested  notions  which  the 
early  Quakers  uttered  '  in  a  prophetical 
way,'  sounded  like  the  wildest  rant,  to  be 
relieved  of  the  reproach  of  blasphemy  only 
by  being  referred  to  a  besotted  stupidity  or 
a  shade  of  distraction."  ^  With  a  magician's 
power,  Barclay,  it  seems,  transformed  dis- 
traction into  sobriety.  At  his  touch  be- 
sotted stupidity  was  metamorphosed  into  a 
wise  intelligence,  and  blasphemy  into  rev- 
erential religion.  This  magician,  and  also 
William  Penn,  we  are  informed,  "wrought 
out  for  the  Friends  a  religious  system  for 
belief  and  practice,  which  would  do  honor 
to  any  fellowship  of  Christians  at  the  pres- 
ent time."  The  simple  truth  is,  that  cal- 
umnies almost  as  harsh  as  the  one  just 
quoted,  marred  the  writings  of  distinguished 

1  Massachusetts  and  its  Earl^  History,  p.  106. 


28  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

divines  in  the  seventeenth,  as  well  as  in  the 
nineteenth  century.  Barclay,  recognizing 
vital  religious  truth  in  the  "  principles  and 
doctrines  "  contemptuously  called  "  notions  " 
by  our  critic,  wrote,  not  only  an  "  explana- 
tion," but  a  "  vindication  "  of  them.  He  was 
a  warm  personal  friend  and  admirer  of  Fox, 
and  was  admirably  fitted  for  the  work  by 
education,  sympathy,  suffering,  experience, 
and  knowledge.  It  would  be  a  difficult  task 
for  any  one  to  show  wherein  the  "  religious 
system  for  belief  and  practice,"  elaborated 
by  him,  differs  in  essential  particulars  from 
the  Quakerism  of  Fox,  or  Burrough,  or 
Hubberthorn,  There  is  a  striking  corre- 
spondence in  their  opinions  concerning  social 
duty  and  the  limit  of  their  obligation  to 
civil  government ;  and,  bearing  in  mind  the 
fact  that  they  were  not  anchored  to  a  creed, 
we  cannot  but  be  impressed  by  the  har- 
mony of  their  doctrinal  views.  But  this  is 
a  digression.  The  reader  who  cares  to  pur- 
sue the  matter  further  should  consult  Bar- 
clay's "  Catechism,"  his  "Anarchy  of  the 
Ranters,"  and  his  "Apology."  And  for 
Penn's  testimony  as  to  the  "  extraordinary 
understanding  in  divine  things,"  and  the 
"  admirable  fluency  and  taking  way  of  ex- 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  29 

pression,"  so  characteristic  of  the  "  first 
Quakers,"  one  should  read  his  "  Rise  and 
Progress  of  the  People  called  Quakers." 

Having  noted  some  of  the  more  salient 
features  of  Quakerism,  we  are  quite  pre- 
pared to  believe  that  in  an  age  of  intense 
religious  excitement  some  of  its  more  ar- 
dent professors  were  victims  of  religious 
zeal,  and  occasionally  were  guilty  of  acts 
inconsistent  with  proper  decorum.  It  must 
be  added,  too,  that,  when  pushed  in  argu- 
ment, prominent  Friends,  including  Fox  and 
Penn,  justified  some  of  these  acts  by  throw- 
ing responsibility  for  them  upon  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord.  On  the  other  hand,  they  dis- 
owned James  Naylor  and  others  on  account 
of  their  fantastic  extravagances.^  The  num- 
ber of  Quakers  was  counted  by  tens  of 
thousands,  and  at  one  period  forty-two  hun- 
dred of  them  were  in  the  gaols,^  not  for  any 
crime  or  misdemeanor,  but  because  of  their 
stout  defense  of  liberty  and  their  heroic  re- 
sistance to  religious  tyranny.  When  driven 
or  dragged  from  their  meeting-houses,  they 
assembled    in   the   streets ;  and  when   the 

1  Sewel's  History,  p.  159. 

2  Janney's  Life  of  Fox,  p.  477,  and  many  other  Quaker 
\iistories. 


30  THE   QUAKER  INVASION 

meeting-houses  were  torn  down  they  met 
on  the  ruins,  from  whence  they  were  driven 
only  by  personal  violence.  Many  of  them 
died  in  prison  and  many  more  suffered  long 
impi'isonment  only  to  resume  their  life  of 
sacrifice  and  trial  when  released.  They 
were  courageous,  aggressive,  bold,  and  un- 
sparing in  their  denunciation  of  sin  and  sin- 
ners, but  equally  tender-hearted,  loving, 
and  affectionate.  Even  women  suffering 
the  tortures  of  the  lash  could  kneel  and  ask 
God  to  forgive  the  wretched  men  who  dealt 
the  blows.i 

The  name  Quaker  was  applied  to  them  in 
derision,  but  as  indicative  of  their  charac- 
ter and  aim,  they  called  themselves  Friends. 
When  they  organized,  it  was  not  in  order 
to  proclaim  a  creed  or  to  build  up  a  sect, 
but  for  humane  purposes,  and,  in  Fox's 
phraseology,  for  the  "  promotion  of  purity 
and  virtue."  The  only  test  of  membership 
was  an  habitual  attendance  at  religious 
meetings.  If  a  stranger  appeared  in  their 
business  meetings  and  wished  to  participate 
therein,  he  was  asked  for  a  certificate  from 
Friends  of  his  own  town,  indorsing,  not  his 
soundness   in    doctrine,   but    his    personal 

1  New  England  Judged,  p.  61. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  31 

character.  "  This  precaution,"  says  Fox, 
"  was  to  prevent  any  bad  spirit  that  may 
scandalize  honest  men,  from  bringing  re- 
proach upon  them." 

Questions  of  policy  were  not  settled  by  a 
count  of  noses  or  a  show  of  hands,  but,  after 
grave  deliberation  and  conference,  by  what 
appeared  to  be  the  weight  or  solid  judg- 
ment of  the  assembly. 

Quakerism  in  its  social  and  moral  aspect 
was  the  synonym  for  brotherly  love,  purity, 
simplicity,  integrity,  and  benevolence.  The 
early  Quakers  not  only  advocated  an  en- 
lightened revision  of  the  criminal  laws  and 
a  reform  in  the  treatment  of  prisoners, 
which  was  then  barbarous,  but  they  visited 
the  prisons,  and  sought  out  and  aided  the 
poor,  the  friendless,  and  the  outcasts  of  so- 
ciety. They  literally  loved  both  friend  and 
foe.  Hated,  reviled,  and  persecuted  of  men, 
they  asked  a  divine  blessing  for  their  bit- 
terest enemies. 


32  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 


CHAPTER  11. 

THE     INVASION.  —  MEASURES     OP     RESISTANCE 
AND    DEFENSE. 

It  is  believed  that  numbers  of  the  people 
of  the  town  of  Salem,  in  Massachusetts 
(together  with  others  of  the  Plymouth  Col- 
ony), had  embraced  the  tenets  of  the  Qua- 
kers prior  to  the  arrival  of  some  mission- 
aries in  1656,  but  there  is  apparently  no 
evidence  to  indicate  that  they  had  pro- 
claimed themselves  or  adopted  the  name  of 
the  despised  sect.  Had  they  done  so,  they 
probably  would  have  been  at  least  named 
in  the  recommendation  of  the  Court  made 
in  May  of  the  same  year,  that  "  the  11th 
day  of  June  next  ...  be  kept  as  a  public 
day  of  humiliation,  to  seek  the  face  of  God 
in  behalf  of  our  native  country,  in  refer- 
ence to  the  abounding  of  errors,  especially 
those  of  the  Ranters  and  Quakers,"  etc. 
This  is  the  first  reference  to  the  Friends 
found  in  the  printed  official  records.  When 
it  was  made,  Plymouth  Colony  had  been 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  33 

settled  thirty-five  years,  and  the  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  Colony,  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury. Roger  Williams,  who,  with  all  his 
shortcomings,  is  fairly  ranked  with  the 
apostles  of  liberty,  had  been  driven  into 
exile.  Mrs.  Ann  Hutchinson  had  been  sup- 
pressed and  banished.  Sir  Henry  Vane  had 
returned  to  England  discouraged  and  dis- 
heartened. Coddington,  one  of  the  founders, 
and  afterwards  a  Quaker,  had  taken  ref- 
uge in  Rhode  Island,  where  he  enjoyed 
the  liberty  of  conscience  denied  him  here. 
Winthrop  had  died  lamenting  the  part  he 
had  played  in  persecuting  heresy.^  Sir 
Richard  Saltonstall,  another  founder,  had 
addressed  his  famous  letter,  from  England, 
to  his  old  friends,  in  which  he  deplored 
their  "tyranny  and  persecution,"  and  be- 
sought them  "  not  to  practise  those  courses 
in  a  wilderness  which  you  went  so  far  to 
prevent."  ^  His  advice,  it  is  needless  to  say, 
was  unheeded.  John  Endicott  was  Gov- 
ernor, and  John  Norton  the  leading  minister 

1  George  Bishop's  New  Enrjland  Judfjed,  p.  226.  First 
published  in  1661,  reprinted  in  1667,  ivith  addition  of  a  Sec- 
ond Part.  Again  reprinted  in  1702  and  bound  in  one  vohmie 
with  John  Whiting's  Answer  to  Cotton  Mather,  etc.  For 
references  in  this  book,  see  tlie  edition  of  1702. 

2  Hutchinson  Papers,  pp.  401-407. 

a 


34  THE    QUAKER  IS  V  AS  I  ON 

of  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  when  the  first 
two  Quaker  visitors  arrived,  and  the  policy 
of  repression  found  in  them  the  sternest  of 
supporters.  Ann  Austin  and  Mary  Fisher 
came  here  in  a  vessel,  in  July  of  1656.  The 
laws  referring  to  Quakers  had  not  yet  been 
enacted,  and  there  was  no  law,  human  or 
divine,  to  prohibit  their  coming  here  or 
bringing  their  books  with  them.  On  the 
contrar}',  the  "  Body  of  the  Liberties,"  en- 
acted in  1641,  was  a  guaranty  of  ample 
protection  by  the  authorities  if  they  were 
disturbed  or  molested.  The  prefatory  dec- 
laration reads :  "  We  do  therefore,  this 
day,  religiously  and  unanimously,  decree 
and  confirm  these  following  rights,  liber- 
ties, and  privileges,  concerning  our  churches 
and  civil  state,  to  be  respectively,  impar- 
tially, and  inviolably,  enjoyed  and  ob- 
served throughout  our  jurisdiction  forever." 
The  first  and  second  declarations  are  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

"  1st.  No  man's  life  shall  be  taken  awa}^ 
no  man's  honor  or  good  name  shall  be 
stained,  no  man's  person  shall  be  arrested, 
restrained,  banished,  dismembered,  nor  any 
ways  punished  ;  no  man  shall  be  deprived  of 
his  wife  or  children,  no  man's  goods  or  es- 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  35 

tate  shall  be  taken  away  from  him,  nor  any 
way  indaniaged  under  color  of  law  or  coun- 
tenance of  authority,  unless  it  be  by  virtue 
or  equity  of  some  express  law  of  the  coun- 
try warranting  the  same,  established  by  a 
General  Court  and  sufficiently  published, 
or  in  case  of  the  defect  of  a  law  in  any  par- 
ticular case,  by  the  word  of  God.  And  in 
capital  cases,  or  in  cases  concerning  dis- 
membering or  banishment,  according  to  that 
word  to  be  judged  by  the  General  Court." 

"  2d.  Every  person  within  this  jurisdic- 
tion, whether  Inhabitant  or  foreigner,  shall 
enjoy  the  same  justice  and  law  that  is  gen- 
eral for  the  plantation,  which  we  constitute 
and  execute  one  towards  another,  without 
partiality  or  delay." 

In  the  face  of  this  statute,  Endicott  being 
out  of  town,  the  deputy  governor,  Richard 
Bellingham,  sent  officers  aboard  the  ship, 
who  searched  the  baggage  of  these  two  pas- 
sengers, and  seized  their  books,  which,  by 
order  of  the  authorities,  were  burned  by 
the  common  executioner.  The  women  were 
committed  to  prison,  where  they  were  con- 
fined for  five  weeks,  when  they  were  sent 
back  to  Barbadoes,  the  master  of  the  ship 
being  bound  in  one  hundred  pounds  to  take 


36  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

them  there,  and  ordered  not  to  suffer  any 
to  speak  with  them  after  they  were  pat  on 
board.  It  seems  that  while  in  gaol  they 
used  their  own  beds,  which  were  brought  out 
of  the  ship  ;  these  and  their  Bibles  the 
gaoler  confiscated  to  satisfy  his  fees.  Dur- 
ing their  imprisonment  no  one  was  allowed 
to  visit  or  to  speak  with  them,  and  a  board 
was  nailed  up  before  the  window  so  that 
none  might  see  them  ;  they  were  denied  all 
writing  material,  and  no  lights  were  per- 
mitted at  night.  They  were  so  ill-fed  or 
so  starved,  rather,  that  Nicholas  Upsall,  a 
church-member  and  freeman  since  1631, 
bribed  the  gaoler  with  five  shillings  a  week 
for  the  privilege  of  sending  them  provisions. 
Prior  to  this  humane  deed,  he,  or  some 
other  person  whose  heart  had  been  touched 
by  their  sufferings, — it  was  probably  Up- 
sall, —  had  in  vain  offered  to  pay  the  five 
pounds  penalty  if  permitted  to  visit  the 
prisoners.  As  is  usual  with  official  despots, 
Bellingham  made  some  show  of  legal  pro- 
cedure when  this  severe  treatment  was  or- 
dered. The  council  was  convened,  and  a 
declaration  issued,  wherein  it  was  said  that 
"  there  are  several  laws  long  since  made 
and  published  in  this   jurisdiction  bearing 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  37 

testimony  against  heretics  and  erroneous 
persons,"  and  that  Ann  Austin  and  Mary- 
Fisher,  "  upon  examination  are  found  not 
only  to  be  transgressors  of  the  former  laws, 
but  to  hold  very  dangerous,  heretical,  and 
blasphemous  opinions  ;  and  they  do  also  ac- 
knowledge that  they  came  here  purposely 
to  propagate  their  said  errors  and  heresies, 
bringing  with  them  and  spreading  here  sun- 
dry books,  wherein  are  contained  most  cor- 
rupt, heretical,  and  blasphemous  doctrines 
contrary  to  the  truth  of  the  gospel  here  pro- 
fessed amongst  us.  The  council,  therefoi-e, 
tendering  the  preservation  of  the  peace 
and  truth  enjoyed  and  professed  among 
the  churches  of  Christ  in  this  country,  do 
hereby  order,"  etc.  What  very  dangerous, 
heretical,  and  blasphemous  opinions  the  pris- 
oners held,  we  are  left  to  surmise.  Quaker 
authorities,  however,  furnish  us  a  clew. 
They  relate  that  one  of  the  women  said 
"  thee,"  to  Bellingham,  whereupon  he  said, 
"  he  needed  no  more  ;  now  he  knew  they 
were  Quakers."  That  little  magic  word 
was  sufficient  for  the  chief  inquisitor.  We 
are  assured  by  one  who  should  be  excellent 
authority,  that  the  people  of  Massachusetts 
were  well  informed   as   to   the   spirit   and 


38  THE   QUAKER  INVASION 

actings  of  the  Quakers  and  were  on  the 
watch  for  thein.^  At  last  the}^  had  arrived. 
These  two  women,  it  was  clear,  were  Qua- 
kers, and  therefore  they  w^ere  heretics  and 
blasphemers.  It  is  to  be  observed  that 
without  any  knowledge  whatever  of  their 
opinions,  their  arrest  was  predetermined 
and  they  were  imprisoned  before  they  had 
spoken  a  word.  They  were  not  accused  of 
crime,  or  misdemeanor,  or  with  the  utter- 
ance of  heres}'^  They  were  arrested,  re- 
strained, and  finally  banished,  solely  be- 
cause they  were  Quakers  and  had  intended 
to  disseminate  their  opinions,  if  allowed  to 
remain  here.  The  magistrates  proceeded 
under  color  of  law,  it  is  true,  but  none  the 
less  in  violation  of  the  fundamental  law 
of  the  colony.  However,  we  must  not 
overlook  the  plea  set  up  by  some  modern 
writers.  The  council,  say  these  apologists, 
derived  their  authority  from  the  royal  char- 
ter. This  document,  after  expressl}'  provid- 
ing that  only  such  "orders,  laws, ordinances, 
instructions,  and  directions  aforesaid,  not 
being  repugnant  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of 
our  realm  of  England,"  shall  be  promul- 
gated, proceeds  to   invest   the  government 

1  Massacltusetts  and  its  Early  History,  p.  109. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  39 

with  the  war  power.  It  provides  "  that  it 
shall  and  may  be  lawful  to  and  for  the 
chief  commanders,  governors,  and  officers 
.  .  .  for  their  special  defense  and  safety, 
to  encounter,  expulse,  repel,  and  resist  by 
force  of  arms,  as  well  by  sea  as  by  land, 
and  by  all  fitting  ways  and  means  whatso- 
ever, all  such  person  and  persons  as  shall 
at  any  time  hereafter  attempt  or  enterprise 
the  destruction,  invasion,  detriment,  or  an- 
noyance to  the  said  plantation  or  inhab- 
itants ;  and  to  take  and  surprise  by  all 
ways  and  means  whatsoever,  all  and  every 
such  person  and  persons,  with  their  ships, 
armor,  munition,  and  other  goods,  as  shall 
in  hostile  manner  invade  or  attempt  the  de- 
feating of  the  said  plantation,  or  the  hurt 
of  the  said  company  and  inhabitants."  We 
are  assured  that  "  through  letters  from 
friends  at  home,"  and  their  own  familiarity 
with  "  the  abounding  pamphlets  of  relig- 
ious controversy  of  these  days,"  the  Puri- 
tans were  apprised  of  the  dark  designs  of 
these  two  desperate  and  wai'like  Amazons, 
who  in  hostile  bonnets  and  gowns  had 
invaded  Boston  harbor.  To  be  sure  the 
Quaker  books  they  brought  with  them  gave 
the   lie    to    the   letters  from  England,  but 


40  THE  QUAKER  INVASION 

what  need  to  read  them?  One  of  the  dread- 
ful women  had  said  "  thee  "  to  the  deputy 
governor,  and  her  arrest  prior  to  this  her 
declaration  of  war  was  thus  ampl}'  justified. 
The  enemy  had  been  surprised,  "  as  well 
by  sea  as  by  land ;  "  the  invaders  had  been 
captured,  and  for  a  time,  at  least,  the  colony 
was  safe.  But  could  punishment  too  severe 
be  meted  out  to  such  dangerous  captives  ? 
John  Endicott  thought  not ;  so  he  wrote  a 
letter  from  Salem  saying  that  had  he  been 
at  home  he  would  have  had  them  well 
whipped.  An  ordeal  far  more  terrible  than 
scourging  awaited  them.  By  official  order 
these  two  defenseless  women  were  literally 
stripped  of  their  clothing,  and  their  bodies 
were  examined  for  witch  marks  in  a  man- 
ner too  indecent  to  be  named. ^  If  any  one 
cares  to  know  all  that  this  implies,  let  him 
consult  Winthrop's  Journal,  vol.  ii.  p. 
397,  where  he  will  find  a  narrative  in  de- 
tail of  similar  infliction  upon  the  body  of 
Margaret  Jones,  in  the  year  1648.  The 
recital  is  too  disgusting  and  sickening  to 
be  repeated.  The  treatment  of  that  poor 
woman  was  inexcusable,  but  it  was  just  and 
honorable  as  compared  with  the  treatment 
of  Ann  Austin  and  Mary  Fisher. 

-  Ntic  England  Judged,  p.  12. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  41 

Before  Margaret  Jones  was  arrested  slie 
had  aroused  the  superstitious  fears  of  the 
community.  She  had  "  a  malignant  touch, 
as  many  persons  (men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren) when  she  stroked  .  .  .  were  taken 
with  deafness  ...  or  sickness.  She,  prac- 
tising physic,  .  .  .  her  medicines  were  harm- 
less, as  anise-seed,  liquors,  etc.,  yet  had  ex- 
traordinary violent  effects.  .  .  .  Some  things 
which  she  foretold,  came  to  pass  accord- 
ingly." During  her  trial  these  alarming 
facts  were  duly  proved  to  the  jury,  and  she 
was  found  guilty  of  witchcraft  and  hanged 
for  it.  Governor  Winthrop  further  narrates 
that  "  the  same  day  and  hour  she  was  ex- 
ecuted, there  was  a  very  great  tempest  at 
Connecticut  which  blew  down  many  trees," 
etc.  Though  nothing  can  palliate  the  re- 
volting torture  to  which  she  was  subjected, 
nor  justify  the  final  punishment,  it  may  be 
urged  that  in  view  of  her  practices  a  su- 
perstitious people  might  be  pardoned  for 
putting  her  under  restraint.  Her  predic- 
tions, her  stroking,  and  her  potions  had  ter- 
rified the  neighbors,  and  judging  from  the 
record,  she  was  arrested  and  tried,  in  obe- 
dience to  public  sentiment.  No  such  plea 
can  be  entered  in  the  case  of  Ann  Austin 


42  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

and  Mary  Fisher.  They  practiced  no  rays- 
tei'ies;  they  never  had  so  much  as  a  chance 
to  speak  to  man,  woman,  or  child  of  Bos- 
ton ;  they  were  not  transgressors  of  any  law- 
There  is  nothing  in  the  whole  history  of 
their  case  to  relieve  the  blackness  of  the  di- 
abolical crime  of  which  they  were  the  vic- 
tims. And  yet  a  vice-president  of  the  Mas- 
sachusetts Historical  Society  tells  us  that 
the  advent  of  the  Quakers  here  began  in 
"  comedy  "  !  On  the  contrary,  the  advent 
of  the  Quakers  upon  the  soil  of  Massachu- 
setts was  marked  hy  ghastly,  grim  tragedy 
far  more  terrible  than  the  subsequent  hang- 
ing of  other  Quakers,  for  it  involved  a  liv- 
ing death,  more  to  be  dreaded  than  the  gal- 
lows. 

A  few  days  after  the  enforced  departure 
of  Ann  Austin  and  Mary  Fisher,  another 
vessel  anchored  in  the  harbor  with  nine 
Quakers  aboard.  They  were  immediately 
arrested  and  were  imprisoned  for  about 
eleven  weeks,  when  they  were  sent  away 
in  the  ship  that  brought  them,  the  master 
of  the  ship  having  been  compelled  by  an 
arbitrary  imprisonment  to  give  security  to 
take  them  to  England  at  his  own  charge. 
The    women    were    spared    the    shocking 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  43 

witchcraft  ordeal,  and  apparently  starvation 
was  not  attempted,  but  otherwise  these 
Friends  were  subjected  to  the  same  severe 
treatment  as  their  predecessors.  During 
their  confinement  Governor  Endicott  bul- 
lied them  with  threats  of  hanging.  "  Take 
heed,"  he  said  to  them,  "ye  break  not 
our  ecclesiastical  laws,  for  then  ye  are  sure 
to  stretch  by  a  halter."  It  was  charged 
that  they  were  guilty  of  "  turbulent  and 
contemptuous  behavior  to  authority,"  but 
Bishop,  a  contemporary,  whose  integrity 
is  not  questioned  by  any  one,  pronounces 
this  a  "  calumny  forged  out  of  j^our  own 
and  the  brains  of  your  priests."  That  it 
was  a  false  charge  is  probable,  for  in  the 
same  Declaration,  referring  to  Ann  Austin, 
Mary  Fisher,  and  these  men  and  women,  the 
authorities  mendaciously  assert  that  their 
"  persons  were  only  secured  to  be  sent  away 
the  first  opportunity,  without  censure  or 
punishment."  Without  censure  or  punish- 
ment !  The  father  of  lies  might  well  be 
staggered  by  such  a  shameless  falsehood. 

Early  Friends,  as  has  been  shown,  had 
profound  respect  for  authority  leavened 
with  justice,  but  when  officials  degraded  it 
and  themselves  by  acts   of   cruel  tyranny, 


44  THE   QUAKER  INVASION' 

they  were  prompt  to  resist  and  to  rebuke. 
In  the  present  case  it  is  quite  possible  that 
some  of  the  prisoners  spoke  their  minds 
freely  to  their  oppressors  when  opportunity 
offered.  One  of  them,  Mary  Prince,  it  is 
alleged,  saluted  Endicott  as  he  passed  the 
gaol  on  his  way  to  church,  with  such  epi- 
thets as  "vile oppressor,"  and  "tyrant,"  and 
foretold  that  the  Lord  would  "  smite  "  him. 
It  is  also  said  that  when  the  ministers  in- 
terviewed her,  she  reproached  them  as 
"  hirelings,  Baal's  priests,"  etc.  Grant  the 
correctness  of  these  reports.  Who  does 
not  honor  the  brave  woman,  the  victim  of 
Endicott's  tyranny,  for  defying  him  with 
the  simple  truth  ?  Who  can  censure  her 
for  refusing  with  contempt  and  righteous 
indignation  the  proffered  offices  of  sancti- 
monious ministers  who  satirized  the  words 
of  Jesus,  "  I  was  in  prison,  and  ye  came 
unto  me,"  by  visiting  her  to  convict  her  of 
heresy  and  blasphem}'",  and  with  insuffera- 
ble imperiousness  to  uige  upon  her  the  in- 
fallibility of  their  own  superstitious  dog- 
mas ? 

The  next  act  in  this  tragedy  of  errors 
was  performed  while  these  nine  Quakers 
were  still  in  gaol,  but  before  any  others  had 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  45 

arrived  and  before  any  of  the  residents  had 
avowed  the  Quaker  name  and  faith.  On 
the  l-lth  day  of  October,  1656,  the  General 
Court  enacted  the  first  of  a  series  of  dis- 
graceful laws,  aimed  exclusively  at  the 
Quakers.^  It  begins,  "  Whereas  there  is  a 
cursed  sect  of  heretics  lately  risen  up  in  the 
world,  which  are  commonly  called  Qua^ 
kers,"  etc.  This  insulting  vituperation  is  a 
fit  inaugural  to  their  bloody  work,  and  aptly 
enough  it  is  followed  by  monstrous  calumny. 
Their  victims  have  given  them  no  cause  for 
condemnation,  and  as  they  are  the  only 
Quakers  with  whom  they  have  as  yet  dealt, 
they  are  foi"ced,  as  we  shall  see,  to  trump 
up  the  alleged  misdeeds  of  Friends  in  Eng- 
land, and  to  utilize  the  slanders  culled  from 
letters  and  controversial  writings,  in  order 
to  justify  their  charges.  It  is  true  that  on 
another  and  later  occasion  they  declare, 
"  we  wei'e  well  assured  by  our  own  expe- 
rience, as  well  as  by  the  example  of  their 
predecessors  in  Munster,"  that  it  was  the 
"  design  "  of  these  prisoners  "  to  undermine 
and  ruin  the  peace  and  order "  of  the  col- 
ony ;  but  the  assertion  is  an  afterthought 
unsustained  by  evidence,  and  is  as  gross  a 

1  See  Appendix,  p.  133. 


46  THE   QUAKER  INVASION 

calumny  as  the  one  with  which  it  is  coupled. 
The  Quakers  were  as  innocent  of  the  Mun- 
ster  iniquities,  which,  by  the  way,  occurred 
in  the  preceding  century,  as  the  Puritans 
themselves.  The  preamble  to  this  law  con- 
tinues :  "  who  take  upon  them  to  be  im- 
mediately sent  of  God,  and  infallibly  as- 
sisted by  the  Spirit  to  speak  and  write 
blasphemous  opinions,  despising  government 
and  the  order  of  God  in  church  and  com- 
monwealth, speaking  evil  of  dignities,  re- 
proaching and  reviling  magistrates  and  min- 
isters, seeking  to  turn  the  people  from  the 
faith  and  gain  proselytes  to  their  pernicious 
ways,  this  Court,  taking  into  serious  consid- 
eration the  premises,  and  to  prevent  the  like 
mischief  as  by  their  means  is  wrought  in  our 
native  land,  doth  hereby  order,"  etc.  These 
calumnies  are  repeated  under  various  forms 
in  the  text  of  subsequent  laws,  and  were 
evidently  relied  upon  to  create  a  public  sen- 
timent that  would  justify  the  judicial  crimes 
premeditated.  After  again  denouncing  the 
"  blasphemous  heretics,"  the  law  provides 
heavy  penalties  for  ship-masters  and  others 
who  may  be  convicted  of  bringing  Quakers 
to  the  colony.  Next,  it  is  ordered,  that 
Quakers    coming   within    the    jurisdiction 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  41 

"  shall  be  forthwith  committed  to  the  house 
of  correction,  and  at  their  entrance  to  be 
severely  whipped,  and  by  the  master  thereof 
be  kept  constantly  to  work,  and  none  suf- 
fered to  converse  or  speak  with  them  dur- 
ing the  time  of  their  imprisonment,  which 
shall  be  no  longer  than  necessity  requireth.' ' 
Quaker  books  or  "  writings  concerning  their 
devilish  opinions  ''  are  next  interdicted,  and 
persons  who  defend  said  books  or  opinions 
are  fined,  for  the  first  offense  forty  shillings  ; 
for  the  second  offense  four  pounds,  and  for 
the  third  offense  they  are  first  imprisoned 
and  then  banished.  Lastly,  it  is  "  ordered, 
that  what  person  or  persons  soever  shall  re- 
vile the  office  or  person  of  magistrates  or 
ministers,  as  is  usual  with  the  Quakers, 
such  person  or  persons  shall  be  severely 
whipped,  or  pay  the  sum  of  five  pounds," 

This  formal  declaration  of  war  against 
the  Quakers  was  proclaimed  in  the  streets 
of  Boston  by  beat  of  drum.  Nicholas  Up- 
sall,^  of  whom  mention  has  already  been 
made,  was  proprietor  of  the  Red  Lyon  Inn, 
and  hearing  the  act  read  bef9re  his  own 
door,  said,  "  that  he  did  look  at  it  as  a  sad 

•  For  biography  see  The  jV.  E.  Historical  and  Genealogi- 
cal Register  for  January,  1880 


48  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

forerunner  of  some  heavy  judgment  to  fall 
on  the  country." 

The  authorities,  hearing  of  this,  quickly 
availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  to 
make  perfectly  clear  what  was  meant  by 
such  terms  as  "  reproaching  honored  mag- 
istrates.'' They  summoned  Upsall  before 
the  court  the  next  morning,  where  he,  "  in 
much  tenderness  and  love,"  warned  thera 
"  to  take  heed  lest  ye  should  be  found  fight- 
ers against  God."  He  was  fined  twenty 
pounds,  Endicott  saying,  "  I  will  not  bate 
him  one  groat."  He  was  then  banished, 
with  orders  to  depart  in  thirty  days,  four 
of  which  he  spent  in  gaol,  and  before  leav- 
ing he  was  fined  three  pounds  more  for  not 
going  to  church. 

On  the  14th  of  October,  1657,  a  second 
law  was  enacted,  the  vituperation  and  i-evil- 
ing  "  usual  "  with  the  Puritan  authorities 
being  a  prominent  feature  of  the  text.  It 
provided  for  the  forfeiture  of  one  hundred 
pounds  by  any  one  who  knowingly  brought 
a  Quaker  into  the  jurisdiction,  and  imposed 
a  fine  of  forty  shillings  for  every  hour's  en- 
tertainment of  a  Quaker  by  any  resident.  It 
further  ordered  that  any  Quaker  man  pre- 
suming to  come  into  the  jurisdiction  after 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  49 

having  once  suffered  what  the  h\w  requireth, 
"  shall  for  the  first  offense  have  one  of  his 
eai's  cut  off  .  .  .  and  for  the  second  offense 
shall  have  his  other  ear  cut  off  .  .  .  and 
every  woman  Quaker  that  hath  suffered  the 
law  here,  that  shall  presume  to  come  into 
this  jurisdiction,  shall  be  severely  whipped 
.  .  .  and  so  also  for  her  coming  again  she 
shall  be  alike  used  as  aforesaid  ;  and  for 
every  Quaker,  he  or  she,  that  shall  a  third 
time  herein  again  offend,  they  shall  have 
their  tongues  bored  through  with  a  hot  iron. 
.  .  .  And  it  is  further  ordered  that  all  and 
every  Quaker  arising  from  amongst  our- 
selves shall  be  dealt  with  and  suffer  the  like 
punishment  as  the  law  provides  against  for- 
eign Quakers."  ^ 

On  the  19th  of  May,  1658,  for  a  third 
time  the  General  Court  issued  its  decree 
against  the  Friends,  forbidding,  under  se- 
vere penalties,  the  holding  of  meetings  or 
attendance  at  meetings.  This  law,  also,  is 
well  flavored  with  the  usual  reviling  and 
calumny.^ 

On  the  19th  of  October,  1658,  the  Court 
enacted  the  fourth  law,  in  which  they  incor- 
porated Endicott's  threat,  "  take  heed  ye 

1  See  Appendix,  p.  136.  2  gee  Appendix,  p.  137. 

4 


50  THE   QUAKER   INVASION 

break  not  our  ecclesiastical  laws,  for  then 
ye  are  sure  to  sti-etch  by  the  halter."  The 
preamble  not  only  recites  the  old  list  of 
calumnies,  but  lengthens  it  with  fresh  slan- 
ders. It  is  followed  by  an  order  banishing 
both  visiting  and  resident  Quakers  upon 
pain  of  death  if  they  return.  Very  prop- 
erly this  order  is  amply  padded  with  Puri- 
tan railing  and  abuse. 

On  May  11,  1659,  by  a  special  order,  the 
count}^  treasurers  were  authorized  to  sell 
Daniel  and  Provided  Southwicke,  son  and 
daughter  to  Lawrence  Southwicke,^  to  any 
of  the  English  nation  at  Virginia  or  Bar- 
badoes,  to  satisfy  the  fines  imposed  upon 
them  "for  siding  with  the  Quakers  and 
absenting  themselves  from  the  public  ordi- 
nances.    ^ 

Edmund  Batter,  the  treasurer  of  Salera, 
undertook  to  carry  out  this  order.  He 
was  a  foul-mouthed  villain  who  reveled  in 
assaults  upon  defenseless  men  and  wom- 
en, and  who  was  never  so  happy  as  when, 
engaged  in  hunting  down  the  Quakers. 
Pages  might  be  filled  with  a  recital  of  his 
infamous  deeds  as  they  are  recounted  by 
Bishop,  but  he  shall  speak  for  himself,  as 

1  See  Appendix,  p.  17}.        2  gee  Appendix,  p.  175. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  51 

his  own  recorded  confession  sufficiently  in- 
dicates his  character.  It  may  prove  an  in- 
structive study  to  those  modern  writers  who 
note  every  expression  of  righteous  indigna- 
tion uttered  by  the  Quakers,  and  roll  it  as  a 
sweet  morsel  under  the  tongue,  meanwhile 
remembering  to  forget  the  invective  and 
railing  of  the  Puritans. 

In  the  unpublished  county  court  records 
at  Salem,  there  is  the  following  entry  under 
date  "26th  4mo.  1660."  "Mr.  Edmund 
Batter  being  presented  to  this  Court  for 
saying  that  Elizabeth  Kitchin  had  been  a 
pawawing  and  calling  her  base  quaking  slutt 
with  divers  other  oprobious  and  taunting 
speeches,  the  presentment  being  not  fully 
proved  (he  confest  that  he  said  to  the  said 
Elizabeth)  either  have  you  beene,  or  she  had 
beene  a  pawawing  and  did  say  to  her  she 
was  a  quaking  slutt  (meeting  of  her  betimes 
in  the  morning  comeing  as  he  supposed 
from  a  quaker  meeting,  seeing  also  som 
other  persons  that  waies  afected)  comeing 
that  waye  which  she  came,  is  by  the  Court 
admonished  and  to  pay  fees  of  Court  30s." 

Innocent  women  were  stripped  to  the 
waist  and  thus  exposed  to  public  gaze,  were 
beaten    with   stripes    until   the    blood   ran 


52  THE   QUAKER   INVASION 

down  their  bare  backs  and  bosoms  ;  the  ears 
of  men  were  cut  off  and  the  bodies  of  men 
were  beaten  to  a  jelly,  for  attending  Quaker 
meetings  and  for  testifying  against  "your 
bloody  and  cruel  laws;"  but  cowardly  bul- 
lies and  blackguards,  such  as  Edmund  Bat- 
ter, when  they  insulted  Quaker  women,  were 
only  admonished  and  obliged  to  pay  court 
fees  ;  nor  did  their  indecency  prevent  their 
being  honored  church-members  and  trusted 
officials  in  the  Puritan  commonwealth, 
which  we  are  taught  to  believe  was,  par  ex- 
cellence^ the  stronghold  of  piety  and  moral- 
ity. 

This  Edmund  Batter  hunted  in  vain  for 
a  ship-master  mean  enough  to  sail  freighted 
with  human  victims  for  a  Virginia  market. 
One  captain,  being  approached,  "  to  try 
Batter,  said, — that  they  would  spoil  all  the 
vessel's  company,"  whereupon  he  replied, 
with  a  testimony  to  the  inoffensive  char- 
acter of  the  Quakers,  rarely  extorted  from 
Puritan  lips.  He  said  to  the  ship-captain, 
"  Oh,  you  need  not  fear  that,  for  they  are 
poor  harmless  creatures  and  will  not  hurt 
anybody."  "Will  they  not  so?  (said  the 
ship-master)  and  will  ye  offer  to  make  slaves 
of  so  harmless  creatures?"      Whittier  has 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  53 

immortalized  this  scene  by   rendering  the 
captain's  answer  in  the  following  lines  :  — 

"  Pile  my  ship  with  bars  of  silver, —  pack  with  coins  of  Span- 
ish gold, 
From  keel-piece  up  to  deck-plank,  the  roomage  of  her  hold. 
By  the  living  God  who  made  me !  —  I  would  sooner  in  j'our 

bay 
Sink  ship  and  crew  and  cargo,  than  bear  this  child  away !  " 

On  the  22d  of  May,  1661,  finding  the 
hanging  business  had  been  somewhat  over- 
done, the  Court,  with  the  customary  cal- 
umny and  vindictive  epithet,  enacted  a  new 
statute,  wherein  it  is  ordered  that  Quakers, 
both  men  and  women,  are  to  "  be  stripped 
naked  from  the  middle  upwards,  and  tied 
to  a  cart's  tail  and  whipped  through  the 
town  ; "  also  to  "be  branded  with  the  let- 
ter R  on  their  left  shoulder,"  and  "  the 
constables  of  the  several  towns  are  em- 
powered ...  to  impress  cart,  oxen,  and 
other  assistance  for  the  execution  of  this  or- 
der." ^  The  author  of  "  The  New  England 
Tragedies   in    Prose "   probably   wrote    his 

1  See  Appendix,  p.  141.  The  persistent  slander  of  the 
Quakers  is  well  illustrated  by  the  terms  of  this  law,  in  which 
the  Friends  are  described  as  "vagabonds."  The  history  of 
Friends,  the  world  over,  from  the  rise  of  the  Society  down  to 
the  present  day,  does  not  afford  a  single  instance  of  Quaker 
pauperism  or  vagrancy.  Neither  the  Colony  nor  the  State 
of  Massachusetts  was  ever  asked  to  spend  one  shilling  for  the 
benefit  of  a  Quaker. 


54  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

narrative  under  the  full  conviction  that  his 
treatment  of  the  Quakers  is  very  magnan- 
imous, and  his  criticism  of  the  Puritans 
sufficiently  severe ;  but  in  common  with 
several  other  apologists,  he  manifests  an 
ignorance  concerning  the  real  mission  and 
character  of  the  Quakers,  combined  with 
an  acquired  or  hereditary  bias  in  favor  of 
the  Puritans,  by  which  he  is  emphatically 
disqualified  for  rendering  impartial  judg- 
ment. In  alluding  to  the  passage  and  the 
enforcement  of  the  inhuman  law,  of  which 
the  pivotal  sentence  has  just  been  quoted, 
he  says,  with  unconscious  irony,  "  as  the 
clemency  of  the  rulers  began  its  gentler 
sway,  for  a  time,  at  least,  the  vehemence 
of  the  disturbers  seemed  to  increase."  A 
Daniel  come  to  judgment !  Adopting  the 
prejudiced  opinions  of  the  historian  Palfrey, 
he  believes  that  "  seldom  have  enthusiasts 
been  more  coarse,  more  unfriendly,  more 
wild  and  annoying  than  the  earl}'  Friends." 
His  sjMnpathy  for  the  persecuted  Puritans 
is  so  aroused  that,  for  the  moment,  the 
spirit  of  old  John  Norton  seems  to  possess 
him.  With  the  vision  of  an  innocent  wom- 
an stripped  to  the  waist,  hauled  from  town 
to  town,  and  flogged  as  she  is  dragged  along 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  55 

at  the  cart's  tail,  —  with  this  brutal  sight 
in  his  mind's  eye,  he  commends  "  the  clem- 
ency of  the  rulers,"  and,  with  implied  sur- 
prise, notes  that  under  its  "  gentler  sway  " 
the  vehemence  of  the  disturbers  seemed  to 
increase.  Such  wretched  twaddle  is  more 
than  discreditable.  It  is  puerile  ;  and  yet 
it  passes  for  historical  criticism. 

On  the  27th  of  November,  1661,  in  obe- 
dience to  an  order  from  Charles  II.,  King  of 
England,  to  whom  the  Friends  had  applied 
for  relief,  the  Court  ordered  "  that  the  ex- 
ecution of  the  laws  in  force  against  Quakers, 
as  such,  so  far  as  they  respect  corporal  pun- 
ishment or  death,  be  suspended  until  this 
court  take  further  order  ;  "  ^  but  on  the  8th 
of  October,  1662,  their  fear  of  the  King  be- 
ing allayed,  they  reenacted  the  law  of  May, 
1661,  with  an  amendment  providing  that 
"  the  whipping  be  but  through  three  towns ; 
and  the  magistrates  .  .  .  shall  appoint  both 
the  towns  and  the  number  of  the  stripes  in 
each  town  to  be  given." 

1  For  this  famous  "  King's  Missive,"  and  brief  comment, 
see  Appendix,  pp.  188-191. 


56  THE   QUAKER  INVASION 


CHAPTER  III. 


THE    WARFARE. 


We  have  now  passed  in  review  the  Pu- 
ritan legislation  against  the  Quakers  during 
the  six  years  of  the  reign  of  terror.^  The 
story  of  its  vigorous  enforcement  stains  the 
saddest  page  of  our  early  history, — not 
even  excepting  the  witchcraft  delusion,  that, 
at  a  later  day,  swejDt  through  the  colony. 
Incredible  as  the  narration  seems  to  us,  no 
one  suspects  that  the  sufferers  or  the  Qua- 
ker historians  are  guilt})-  of  exaggeration. 

The  tongue  boring  and  the  branding  pen- 
alties were  not  resorted  to  in  this  colony,^  but 
three  victims  had  their  right  ears  cut  off, 
and  four  suffered  the  death  penalty.  The 
number  of  homes  broken  up  by  banishment 
and  the  extent  of  the  impoverishment  of 
families  b}'  confiscation  of  property  have  yet 
to  be  computed.    Nor  is  it  known  how  many 

1  For  subsequent  legislation,  etc.,  see  Appendix,  pp.   191, 
192. 

2  In  the  Xew  Haven  Colony,  Humphrey  Norton  -was  branded 
"  H  "  (Heresj')  in  the  hand. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  57 

scourgings  were  inflicted.  Dr.  Ellis  thinks 
that  about  thirty  victims  had  suffered  whip- 
pings by  order  of  the  General  Court  alone, 
and  many  more  from  local  courts,  prior  to 
the  passage  of  the  "vagabond  law  "  in  May, 
1661,  and  it  is  well  known  that  a  carnival 
of  cruelty  followed  the  enactment  of  that 
law. 

To  the  credit  of  the  people  of  the  colony 
it  should  be  said  that  the  passage  of  these 
laws  and  their  merciless  enforcement  were 
not  sustained  by  public  opinion.  It  is  true 
that  in  October,  1658,  a  petition,^  signed 
by  twenty -five  citizens,  asked  for  severer 
laws  against  the  Quakers,  but  there  is  good 
reason  for  believing  that  it  was  instigated 
by  John  Norton  and  other  ministers.  It 
did  not  represent  the  sentiments  of  the  com- 
munity. Remembering  the  fate  of  Nicholas 
Upsall,  it  would  have  been  hazardous  for 
any  one  to  circulate  or  present  a  counter  pe- 
tition ;  nevertheless,  there  were  times  when 
public  indignation  was  with  difficulty  re- 
strained from  manifesting  itself  by  open  re- 
volt. This  was  notably  true  in  the  early 
part  of  1658,  when  the  barbarous  treatment 
of  William  Brend  by  his  gaoler  was  noised 

1  Sue  Appendix,  p.  153. 


58  TEE    QUAKER  INVASION 

abroad.  To  quell  the  rising  turmoil,  and 
to  appease  an  exasperated  people,  the  au- 
thorities publiel}^  promised  to  punish  the 
gaoler;  but  Brend,  whose  life  for  a  time 
hung  by  a  thread,  recovered,  and  the  tu- 
mult subsiding,  the  insincerity  of  the  mag- 
istrates was  revealed.  Their  promise  was 
broken,  the  gaoler  retained  his  office,  and 
his  barbarity  was  applauded  by  pious  John 
Norton. 

The  law  ordering  banishment  upon  pain 
of  death  had  been  passed  with  difficulty, 
and  by  a  bare  majority  of  one  vote. 

In  October,  1659,  when  William  Robin- 
son, Marmaduke  Stevenson,  and  Mary  D^er 
were  sentenced  to  death,  military  precau- 
tions were  taken  to  prevent  an  outbreak. 
A  conception  of  the  fears  of  the  magis- 
trates and  the  excitement  of  the  populace 
is  possible,  when  we  remember  that  the 
population  of  Boston  was,  at  the  most,  but 
a  few  thousands  ;  and  then  read .  in  the  offi- 
cial record  that  the  prisoners  were  escorted 
to  the  gallows  hj  "  Captain  James  Oli- 
ver, with  one  hundred  soldiers,  completely 
armed  with  pike,  and  musketeers,  with 
powder  and  bullet."  A  drummer  marched 
in  advance  of  the  condemned  prisoners,  and 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  59 

when  either  of  them  attempted  to  speak, 
the  drum  was  beaten.  During  the  execu- 
tion thirty-six  soldiers  were  posted  about 
the  town  as  sentinels,  to  preserve  the  peace. 
Prior  to  the  execution  it  was  "  ordered  that 
the  selectmen  of  Boston  shall  .  .  .  press 
ten  or  twelve  able  and  faithful  persons, 
every  night  during  the  sitting  of  this  court, 
tq  watch  with  great  care  the  town,  espe- 
cially the  prison,"  etc.  Evidently  a  rescue 
was  feared.  At  the  same  sitting  of  the 
court  two  declarations  were  issued.  One  of 
them  is  a  long  document  largely  devoted  to 
a  scriptural  refutation  of  Quaker  doctrines.^ 
The  other  is  mainly  composed  of  a  string 
of  calumnies  designed  to  inflame  the  people 
against  the  Friends.  Both  of  them  appeal 
to  the  religious  prejudices  and  bigotry  of 
the  colony,  and  were  evidently  published 
under  the  fear  of  righteous  retribution  by 
an  outraged  community.  Even  stern  John 
Endicott  scented  danger,  and  hastened  to 
vindicate  the  court  from  "  the  clamorous 
accusation  of  severity." 

The  authorities  professed  that  they  were 
reluctant  to  execute  the  Quakers,  and  it  is 
true  that  at  the  solicitation    of  her  son   a 

1  See  Appendix,  pp.  143-152. 


60  TUE    QUAKER  INVASION 

reprieve  was  granted  to  Marj'  Dyer,  by 
which  her  life  was  spared,  only  to  be  taken, 
liowever,  upon  her  subsequent  visit  to  the 
colony.  It  is  very  evident  that  they  were 
determined  to  make  an  example  of  Robin- 
son and  Stevenson,  for  they  turned  a  deaf 
ear  to  the  earnest  entreaties  of  their  more 
enlightened  neighbors.  John  Winthrop, 
Governor  of  Connecticut,  said  he  would 
beg  them  on  his  bare  knees  not  to  execute 
the  law ;  and  Colonel  Temple  said  to  the 
court  that  if  they  really  "desired  their 
lives  absent  rather  than  their  deaths  pres- 
ent, he  would  beg  them  of  you,  and  carry 
them  awa}'  at  his  own  charge  .  .  .  and  if 
any  of  them  should  come  amongst  ye  again 
he  would  again  fetch  them  at  his  own 
charge."  ^  This  proposition  was  favorably 
received  b}^  most  of  the  magistrates  ;  but 
the  stronger  wills  of  a  few  leading  officials 
overcame  all  opposition,  and  the  order  for 
the  execution  was  confirmed. 

When  Wenlock  Christison,  who  is  errone- 
ously represented  as  having  recanted,^  was 

1  New  Enrjland  Judged,  pp.  157-158. 

2  See  The  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  \.,  187.  A  fac- 
simile of  Christison's  letter  is  given  on  page  188.  "I,  the 
condemned  man,  do  give  forth  under  my  hand,  that  if  I  may 
have  my  liberty  I  have  freedom  to  depart  this  jurisdiction, 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  61 

convicted,  the  court  deliberated  for  two 
weeks  before  a  verdict  of  guilty  was  ob- 
tained. Even  then  it  was  only  through  the 
indomitable  will  of  Endicott  that  a  sentence 
of  death  was  secured.  His  more  humane 
comrades  faltered,  hesitating  to  add  an- 
other judicial  murder  to  their  list  of  crimes, 
whereupon   Endicott  lost  his  temper,  and, 

and  I  know  not  that  ever  I  shall  come  into  it  any  more." 
By  "freedom  to  depai-t,"  a  mode  of  expression  which  is 
peculiar  to  Friends  even  at  the  present  day,  the  prisoner  im- 
doubtedh'  meant  that  having  obeyed  the  call  of  sacred  duty 
by  coming  here  and  testifying  against  the  murder  of  his  friend 
William  Leddra  (who  had  been  executed  in  March,  1661), 
nothing  further  was  required  of  him  at  the  time.  He  had 
no  vainglorious  wish  to  suffer  martyrdom,  but  was  subject  to 
the  will  of  the  Lord,  and  would  lay  down  his  life  when  it 
was  required  of  him.  What  the  Divine  leading  might  be  here- 
after, he  could  not  foretell.  If  it  took  him  to  Boston,  the  mag- 
istrates would  see  him  again,  but  if  not,  he  had  no  desire  to 
renew  their  acquaintance.  Instead  of  "  sliowing  the  white 
feather,"  as  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dexter  sneeringly  puts  it  in  his 
book,  As  to  Roger  Williams,  Christison  was  courageously 
faithful  to  duty  as  it  was  revealed  to  him.  For  such  a  man 
it  was  harder  to  retreat  and  by  so  doing  subject  himself  to  the 
charge  of  cowardice,  than  it  was  to  face  death.  His  whole 
life,  so  far  as  it  is  known,  sustains  this  theory.  The  fact  that 
he  did  return  into  the  jurisdiction  and  suffer  further  violence 
from  the  hands  of  the  same  officials  is  sufficient  refutation  of 
the  charge  of  recantation  so  carelessly  made  by  several  writ- 
ers. Had  he  obtained  his  release  by  a  promise  not  to  return, 
the  promise  would  have  been  kept,  for  in  spite  of  an  exagger- 
ated manner  of  speech  charged  upon  the  early  Friends,  even 
their  most  bitter  detractors  will  concede  that  their  word  was 
as  inviolate  as  the  judicial  oaths  of  other  men. 


62  THE    QUAKER   INVASION 

flinging  something  furiously  upon  the  table, 
wished  himself  back  in  England,  and  said, 
"  You  that  will  not  consent,  record  it ;  I 
thank  God  I  am  not  afraid  to  give  judg- 
ment;" he  then,  amid  confusion,  "  pre- 
cipitatel}'  pronounced  judgment  himself." 
This  impetuous  and  relentless  inquisitor  was 
eventually  obliged  to  stay  his  hand  from 
further  murder,  and  to  satisfy  his  craving 
for  Quaker  blood  b}^  drawing  it  from  the 
backs  and  breasts  of  helpless  women. ^ 

The  story  of  William  Brend's  sufferings, 
as  related  by  Sewel,  admirably  illustrates 
the  extreme  cruelty  of  the  officials,  the  un- 
3'ielding  determination  of  the  authorities, 
and  the  disapproving  public  sentiment  that 
extensively  prevailed.  He  says :  "  In  the 
latter  part  of  the  Fifth  month,  [1658],  it 
came  to  pass,  that  William  Brend  and  Wil- 
liam Leddra,  having  been  at  Salem,  came  to 
Newbury  ;  where  at  the  house  of  one  Robert 
Adams  they  had  a  conference  with  the 
priest,  in  the  presence  of  Captain  Gerish, 
who  had  promised  that  the}^  should  not  suf- 
fer ;  but  after  the  conference  was  ended,  the 
captain  would  not  let  them  go,  but  on  prom- 

1  When  the  executioner  whipped  Ann  Coleman  '"he  split 
the  nipple  of  her  breast,  which  so  tortured  her  that  it  had  al- 
most cost  her  life."     New  Enyland  Judged,  p.  430. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  63 

ise  presently  to  depart  the  town  ;  which  be- 
ing loth  to  comply  with,  as  they  were  on 
their  way,  they  were  sent  for  back,  and 
Captain  Gerish  riding  after  them,  com- 
manded them  to  return  ;  which  they  refus- 
ing, he  compelled  them  thereunto,  and  sent 
them  with  a  constable  to  Salem  ;  where, 
being  brought  before  the  magistrates,  they 
were  asked  '  whether  they  were  Quakers  ?  ' 
to  which  they  answered,  '  that  they  were 
such  that  were  in  scorn  called  so.'  Next  it 
was  objected  to  them  'that  they  maintained 
dangerous  errors.'  They  asking  what  these 
errors  were,  it  was  told  them,  'that  they  not 
only  denied  that'  Christ  at  Jerusalem  had 
suffered  on  the  cross,  but  also  that  they  de- 
nied the  Holy  Scriptures.'  They  boldly 
conti'adicted  this,  and  said  '  they  owned  no 
other  Jesus  but  he  that  had  suffered  death 
at  Jerusalem,  and  that  they  also  owned  the 
Scriptures.'  Now  although  nothing  could 
be  objected  against  this,  yet  they  were  car- 
ried to  the  house  of  correction,  as  such  who, 
according  to  the  law  made  at  Boston,  might 
not  come  into  those  parts.  Some  days  after 
they  were  carried  to  Boston,  where  in  the 
next  month  they  were  brought  into  the 
house   of    correction   to  work    there.     But 


64  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

they,  unwilling  to  submit  thereto,  the  gaoler, 
who  sought  his  profit  from  the  work  of  his 
prisoners,  would  not  give  them  victuals, 
though  they  offered  to  pay  for  them.  But 
he  told  them  '  it  was  not  their  money  but 
their  labor  he  desired.'  Thus  he  kept  them 
five  days  without  food,  and  then  with  a 
three-corded  whip  gave  them  twenty  blows. 
An  hour  after  he  told  them  '  they  might  go 
out,  if  they  would  pay  the  marshal  that  was 
to  lead  them  out  of  the  countr}^'  They 
judging  it  very  unreasonable  to  pay  money 
for  being  banished,  refused  this,  but  yet  said 
'  that  if  the  prison-door  was  set  open,  they 
would  go  away.'  The  next  day  the  gaoler 
came  to  Wm.  Brend,  a  man  in  years,  and 
put  him  in  irons,  neck  and  heels  so  close  to- 
gether, that  there  was  no  more  room  left 
between  each,  than  for  the  lock  that  fast- 
ened them.  Thus  he  kept  him  from  five 
in  the  morning  till  after  nine  at  night,  be- 
ing the  space  of  sixteen  hours.  The  next 
morning  he  brought  him  to  the  mill  to 
work,  but  Brend  refusing,  the  gaoler  took 
a  pitched  rope  about  an  inch  thick,  and 
gave  him  twenty  blows  over  his  back  and 
arms,  with  as  much  force  as  he  could,  so 
that    the   rope  untwisted,  and  then   going 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  65 

away,  he  came  again  with  another  rope 
that  was  thicker  and  stronger,  and  told 
Brend,  '  that  he  would  cause  him  to  bow  to 
the  law  of  the  country,  and  make  him  work.' 
Brend  judged  this  not  only  unreasonable  in 
the  highest  degree,  since  he  had  committed 
no  evil,  but  he  was  also  altogether  unable 
to  work ;  for  he  wanted  strengtli  for  want 
of  food,  having  been  kept  five  days  without 
eating,  and  whipped  also,  and  now  thus  un- 
mercifully beaten  with  a  rope.  Bnt  this  in- 
human gaoler  relented  not,  but  began  to 
beat  anew  with  his  pitched  rope  on  this 
bruised  body,  and  foaming  at  his  mouth 
like  a  madman,  with  violence  laid  four-score 
and  seventeen  blows  more  on  him,  as  other 
prisoners,  that  beheld  it  with  compassion, 
have  told  ;  and  if  his  strength  and  his  rope 
had  not  failed  him,  he  would  have  laid  on 
more ;  he  threatened  also  to  give  him  the 
next  morning  as  many  blows  more.  But  a 
higher  power,  who  sets  limits  even  to  the 
raging  sea,  and  hath  said,  '  Hitherto  shalt 
thou  come,  but  no  further,'  also  limited  this 
butcherly  fellow,  who  was  yet  impudently 
stout  enough  to  say  his  morning-prayer.  To 
what  a  most  terrible  condition  these  blows 
brought  the  body  of  Brend,  (who  because 


QQ  THE   QUAKER  INVASION 

of  the  great  heat  of  the  weatlier,  had  noth- 
ing but  a  serge  cassock  upon  his  shirt)  ma}'' 
easily  be  conceived ;  his  back  and  arms  were 
bruised  and  bhick,  and  the  blood  hanging 
as  in  bags  under  his  arms ;  and  so  into  one 
was  his  flesh  beaten,  that  the  sign  of  a  par- 
ticular blow  could  not  be  seen  ;  for  all  was 
become  as  a  jelly.  His  body  being  thus 
cruelly  tortured,  he  lay  down  upon  the 
boards,  so  extremely  weakened,  that  the 
natural  parts  decaying,  and  strength  quite 
failing,  his  body  turned  cold :  there  seemed 
as  it  Avere  a  struggle  between  life  and 
death  ;  his  senses  were  stopped,  and  he  had 
for  some  time  neither  seeing,  feeling,  nor 
hearing,  till  at  length,  a  divine  power  pre- 
vailing, life  broke  through  death,  and  the 
breath  of  the  Lord  was  breathed  into  his 
nostrils.  Now  the  noise  of  this  cruelty 
spread  among  the  people  in  the  town,  and 
caused  such  a  cry,  that  the  governor  sent 
his  surgeon  to  the  prison,  to  see  what  might 
be  done  ;  but  the  surgeon  found  the  body 
of  Brend  in  such  a  deplorable  condition, 
that,  as  one  without  hopes,  he  said,  'his 
flesh  would  rot  from  off  his  bones,  ere  the 
bruised  parts  could  be  brought  to  digest.' 
Tliis  so  exasperated   the   people   that   the 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  67 

magistrates,  to  prevent  a  tumult,  set  up  a 
paper  on  their  meeting-liouse  door,  and  up 
and  down  the  streets,  as  it  were  to  show 
their  dislike  of  this  abominable  and  most 
barbarous  cruelty ;  and  said,  the  gaoler 
should  be  dealt  withal  the  next  court.  But 
this  paper  was  soon  taken  down  again  upon 
the  instigation  of  the  high  priest,  John  Nor- 
ton, who  having  from  the  beginning  been  a 
fierce  promoter  of  the  persecution,  now  did 
not  stick  to  say,  '  W.  Brend  endeavored  to 
beat  our  gospel-ordinances  black  and  blue  ; 
if  he  then  be  beaten  black  and  blue,  it  is 
but  just  upon  him  ;  and  I  will  appear  in  his 
behalf  that  did  so.'  It  is  therefore  not 
much  to  be  wondered  at,  that  these  precise 
and  bigoted  magistrates,  who  would  be 
looked  upon  to  be  eminent  for  piety,  were 
so  cruel  in  persecuting,  since  their  chief 
teacher  thus  wickedly  encouraged  them  to 
it." 

Further  evidence  of  the  advanced  civil- 
ization of  the  people,  as  contrasted  with  the 
inhumanity  of  the  ministers  and  magis- 
trates, might  be  cited,  but  as  this  fact  is 
generally  conceded,  even  by  very  partisan 
writers,  it  is  unnecessary  to  pursue  the  sub- 
ject further.     It  may  be  well  to  suggest, 


68  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

however,  that  had  the  right  of  suffrage 
been  extended  to  all  citizens  of  character 
and  good  repute,  instead  of  being  limited  to 
church-members,  it  is  probable  there  would 
have  been  an  infusion  of  true  religion  and 
humanity  into  the  laws,  and  the  colony- 
would  have  been  spared  the  tragic  record 
which  now  mars  its  history. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  69 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CHARACTER  AND  CONDUCT  OP  THE  INVADERS. — 
MODERN    REVIEWERS    REVIEWED. 

There  are  some  facts  and  more  fancies 
in  which  popular  writers  believe  they  find 
not  only  the  casus  belli  between  the  Pu- 
ritans and  Quakers,  but  also  great  pallia- 
tion and  partial  justification  for  the  perse- 
cution involved  therein.  At  the  outset  we 
are  met  with  the  assertion  that  the  Qua- 
kers had  no  right  to  come  here,  and  that  the 
right  to  prohibit  their  coming  was  com- 
plete. The  simple  act  of  entrance  into  the 
colony,  regardless  of  the  object  of  the  visit, 
it  is  alleged,  was  an  aggravated  assault  upon 
the  Puritan  homestead. 

This  theory,  first  propounded  by  the  Pu- 
ritans themselves,  has  come  to  be  accepted 
as  historical  truth,  and  no  one  of  our  prom- 
inent writers  has  thought  it  important  to 
state  that  the  Quakers  denied  it  with  as 
much  emphasis,  and  with  at  least  as  great 
sincerity,  as  the  Puritans  asserted  it.     The 


70  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

Quakers  claiired  that  as  Englishmen  they 
had  the  legal  right  to  visit  or  to  live  wher- 
ever the  English  flag  proclaimed  English 
jurisdiction. 1  This  claim  rested  upon  that 
clause  in  the  charter  which  expressly  guar- 
anties '•  all  liberties  and  immunities  of  free 
and  natural  subjects  of  .  .  .  the  realm,"  to 
all  Englishmen  "  which  shall  go  to  and  in- 
habit "  IMassachusetts,  or  "  which  shall  hap- 
pen to  be  born  there,  or  on  the  seas  in  going 
thither  or  returning  from  thence."  ^  The 
authorities  relied  upon  the  same  charter,  in 
which  they  professed  to  find  warrant  to 
build  a  Chinese  wall  around  the  colony. 
Now  the  only  clause  of  the  charter  that  can 
be  used  to  justify  such  arbitrary  legislation 
is  the  one  already  quoted,  and  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  is  a  grant  of  the  war  power  to 
the  colonial  government,  and  nothing  more. 
Legal  quibbling  was  apparently  as  easy  then 
as  now,  and  the  charter,  wrested  from  its 
purpose,  was  made  an  instrument  of  tyr- 
anny. But  if  the  Puritans  quibbled,  their 
apologists  do  something  worse  when  they 
justify  the  treatment  of  the  Quakers  on  the 
pretense  that  they   had   no  business   here, 

1  See  Bishop  and  other  early  Quaker  historians. 

2  Massachusetts  Records,  vol.  i.  p.  16. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  7l 

and  that,  by  coming,  they  forfeited  their 
rights;  for  the  fact  is,  that  four  fifths  of 
them  were  residents  of  the  colony,  and 
were  recognized  as  such  by  the  authorities 
long  before  the  persecution  began.  Upsall, 
Southwick,  and  others  were  freemen.  The 
Buffums,  Whartons,  Shattucks,  and  scores 
of  others,  were  property  holders  and  rep- 
utable citizens.^  Hereafter  when  the  com- 
ing of  the  Quakers  is  under  discussion,  in 
the  interest  of  justice  let  this  fact  be  re- 
membered, and  let  it  not  be  forgotten,  that 
these  people  bravely  maintained  what  they 
believed  to  be  their  chartered  rights.  They 
may  have  appealed,  also,  to  the  "  Body  of  the 
Liberties,"  previously  referred  to,  which  af- 
forded ample  guaranty  of  protection  for  both 
residents  and  strangers.  Paper  guaranties, 
it  is  true,  availed  them  nothhig;  but  they 
are  of  essential  value  to  us  when  judgment 
is  to  be  rendered.  Sooner  or  later,  the 
opinion  now  popular  with  historians  must 
be  reversed,  and  the  claim  of  the  Quakers, 
both  to  come  and  to  live  here,  will  be  sus- 
tained. 

1  Samuel  Winthrop,  a  son  of  Governor  Winthrop,  was  a 
Quaker.  He  does  not  figure  in  the  Quaker  annals  of  Massa- 
chusetts, but  was  a  resident  and  a  leading  citizen  of  Antigua, 


72  TEE   QUAKER  INVASION 

But  the  main  charge  in  the  indictment  of 
the  Quakers,  and  the  one  upon  which  Pu- 
ritan apologists  most  rely  to  justify  their 
own  clients,  is  that  Quakerism  manifested 
itself  here  in  the  persistent  and  frequent 
lawlessness  and  indecent  conduct  of  its  ad- 
herents. We  ai-e  taught  to  believe  that  the 
Puritans  were  exasperated  bej-ond  endur- 
ance, and  that  the  solution  of  Puritan  per- 
secution is  to  be  found  in  the  extravagances 
of  the  Friends.  Will  this  plea  bear  the  test 
of  examination  ? 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  to  be  remarked  that 
many  writers  accept  this  convenient  solu- 
tion, and  recount  the  story  as  told  by  prej- 
udiced authorities,  while  others  rake  the 
records,  and,  without  caring  to  test  their 
correctness,  parade  every  instance  of  misde- 
meanor that  they  find  charged  upon  the 
Friends,  with  relentless  fidelity  to  the  pur- 
pose of  their  search.  In  Grahame's  History 
it  is  related  that  one  Faubord  attempted  to 
imitate  Abraham,  and  was  onl}^  prevented 
from  sacrificing  his  son  by  the  interference 
of  his  neighbors.  This  story  is  copied  by 
a  later  writer  and  handed  down  as  a  speci- 

where  he  bravely  maintained  the  principles  and  testimonies 
of  Friends.     Besse,  vol.  ii.  chap.  ix.  p.  371. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  73 

men  of  a  Quaker's  "  blasphemous  atroc- 
ity." ^  Now  to  the  mind  of  any  one  who 
has  even  slight  knowledge  of  Quaker  doc- 
trines the  account  in  itself  convicts  its  au- 
thor of  malicious  slander,  for  the  Friends 
maintained  unqualifiedly  that  the  old  dis- 
pensation had  been  superseded  by  the  gos- 
pel of  Jesus,  and  that  outward  sacrifice  was 
an  abomination. 

One  of  the  foulest  calumnies  that  disgrace 
the  pages  of  history  is  perpetuated  by  the 
Rev.  Henry  M.  Dexter,^  who  reproduces 
a  story  told  by  Increase  Mather,  to  the  ef- 
fect that  two  Quaker  women  and  a  man 
named  Dunen  danced  naked  together.  One 
of  the  women,  Mary  Ross,  said  she  was 
Christ,  and  commanded  Dunen,  whom  she 
called  the  Apostle  Peter,  to  sacrifice  a  dog. 
There  is  more  of  similar  stuff  which  need 
not  be  repeated.  After  the  recital,  the 
reverend  editor,  probably  to  shield  himself 
from  the  charge  of  willful  misrepresentation, 
concedes  that  "  the  better  sort  of  the  new 
sect  by  this  time  had  begun  to  repudiate 
such  excesses;"   but,  he  adds,  "the  sober 

1  R.  H.  Allen,  in  The  New  England  Tragedies  in  Prose^ 
p.  51. 

2  As  to  Roger  Williams,  pp.  124-141. 


74  THE  QUAKER  INVASION 

portion  of  the  population  of  New  England  " 
found  it  "  difficult  to  draw  the  line  between 
'  Old  '  and  '  New  Quakers.'  "  This  libel 
upon  the  Friends  was  exposed  by  one  of 
them,  a  contemporary,  who  wrote  a  book 
in  answer  to  the  "  calumnies,  lies  and 
abuses  "  heaped  upon  the  Friends  by  Cotton 
Mather,  who  repeats  the  story.  Referring 
to  this  particular  calumny  and  to  others,  he 
says,  "  our  adversaries  .  .  .  rake  up  such 
dirty  stories  to  throw  at  us,"  and  these 
"mad  pranks  no  more  concern  the  Quakers 
.  .  .  than  they  do  the  Presbyterians."  ^  But 
the  extent  of  the  meanness  of  this  attempt 
by  Mr.  Dexter  to  dishonor  the  early  Friends 
is  the  more  fully  realized  when  he  is  found 
characterizing  them,  in  the  same  book,  as 
"  mild  and  peaceful,"  ^  This  he  does  when 
he  quotes  their  condemnation  of  Roger 
Williams  for  the  purpose  of  justifying  his 
own  aspersion  of  Williams's  character. 
The  attack  upon  early  Friend's  by  Hon. 
Joel  Parker,^  published  by  the  Massachu- 

1  Truth  and  Innocency  Defended,  pp.  129-132.  Bound  in 
one  volume  with  New  England  Judged.     Edition  of  1702. 

2  As  to  Roger  Williams,  p.  82. 

3  This  ingenious  lawyer  describes  the  Quakers  as  "the 
nuisance  "  of  the  colony,  and  proves  (to  his  own  satisfaction) 
that  they  were  not  persecuted  by  the  Puritan  authorities. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  75 

setts  Historical  Society,  is  a  master-piece  of 
partisan  pleading;  but  the  unfairness  of 
Mr.  Dexter  in  his  entire  treatment  of  the 
Quakers  exceeds  even  that  of  Parker. 

The  "  Magnalia  "  i  of  Cotton  Mather  is  a 
storehouse  of  ammunition  for  apologists ;  and 
writers  who  would  not  willingly  do  injus- 
tice are  sometimes  betrayed  into  misrepre- 
sentation by  consulting  it  and  forgetting 
to  consult  Quaker  histories.  A  striking 
example  of  this  may  be  found  in  an  arti- 
cle by  Mr.  John  Fiske  of  Cambridge,  pub- 
lished in  "  Harper's  Monthly  Magazine  "  for  I 
Decembei-,  1882..  In  this  article  Mr.  Fiske  ' 
adopts  the  popular  view  of  the  merits  of  the 
conflict  waged  between  the  Puritans  and 
Quakers,  apparently  without  having  ex- 
amined the  pages  of  a  single  Quaker  au- 
thority, and  enlivens  it  with  the  addition 
of  Cotton  Mather's  statement,  that  the 
Friends  called  the  Bible  the  "Word  of  the 
Devil."  A  slight  familiarity  with  this 
branch  of  his  subject  would  have  been  suf- 
ficient to  prevent  Mr.  Fiske  from  mar.'ing 
his  entertaining  and  instructive  paper  b}'  the 
introduction  of  a  stale  calumny  which  even 

1  Book   vii.    chap.    iv.      The  Quakers  are   called  "  devil 
driven  creatures  "  and  "  dangerous  villains." 


76  THE  QUAKER  INVASION 

partisan  commentators  have  not  had  the 
presumption  to  renew,  and  which  has  been 
refuted  by  every  Quaker  writer  who  men- 
tions the  Bible,  and  specifically  by  a  con- 
temporaneous authority.  In  his  review  of 
Mather's  charges,  written  soon  after  they 
were  made,  John  Whiting  says,  "And  as 
to  any  Quakers,  whom  he  calls  wretches, 
ordinarily  saying  among  the  people,  we 
deny  thy  Christ ;  we  deny  thy  God,  which 
thou  callest  Father  Son,  and  Spirit ;  thy 
Bible  is  the  Word  of  the  Devil;  both  these 
charges  we  utterly  deny,  as  false  in  fact. 
and  challenge  him  to  prove  who  or  when 
any  Quaker  said  so ;  and  if  any  ever  did  or 
do,  we  should  disown  it  and  testify  against 
them ;  for  we  abhor  the  very  thoughts  of 
any  such  expressions."  ^  Friend  Whiting's 
challenge,  it  need  not  be  said,  was  never  an- 
swered. As  the  case  stands,  Mr.  Fiske  has 
revived  and  extensively  published  a  slander- 
ous falsehood.  But  iMather,  it  should  be 
said,  has  excellent  indorsement  which  Mr. 
Fiske  may  have  seen.  If  not,  he  can  find  it 
in  the  Diary  of  Judge  Sewall,  recently  pub- 
lished, wherein  the  Puritan  judge  seriously 
defines  Quakerism  as  "Devil  worship."     It 

1  Truth  and  Innucency  Defended,  p.  89. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  77 

will  be  easy  now  to  construct  a  new  justifi- 
cation of  the  Puritans,  for  what  more  natu- 
ral than  for  a  people  who  worshiped  the 
Devil,  and  accepted  the  Bible  as  the  in- 
spired word,  to  maintain  that  the  Devil 
wrote  it?  This  important  theory  being 
conclusively  established  by  the  corrobora- 
tive testimony  of  two  pious  and  truthful 
Puritans,  one  can  only  marvel  at  the  for- 
bearance of  the  colonial  ministers  and  mag- 
istrates. 

In  justice  to  Mr.  Fiske  it  must  be  admit- 
ted that  he  is  not  singular  in  his  methods 
of  research  ;  for  with  rare  exceptions  every 
modern  history  of  this  subject  confirms  the 
suspicion  that  when  early  authorities  have 
been  consulted  at  all,  it  has  been  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  confirming  preconceived  opin- 
ions, and  for  the  selection  of  material  to  be 
used  in  extenuating  the  crimes  of  John  En- 
dicott,  John  Norton,  and  their  associates. 

An  apt  example  of  the  readiness  of  some 
writers  to  condemn  the  Quakers  upon  ex 
parte  testimony  is  furnished  by  Mr.  H.  C. 
Lodge,  who  says  the  Friends  were  drunk 
with  religious  zeal.  He  evidently  believes 
that  it  was  not  unusual  for  them  to  appear 
naked  in  public,  and  he  describes  them  as 


78  THE   QUAKER  INVASION 

rioters  and  disturbers  of  tbe  peace. ^  It  is 
due  to  Mr.  Lodge  to  say  that  in  his  preface 
he  states  that  he  makes  "  absolutely  no 
pretense  to  original  research."  Judged  by 
his  text,  this  ingenuous  admission  should  be 
supplemented  by  a  confession  that  his  re- 
search for  information  as  to  Massachusetts 
Quakers  did  not  include  a  single  Quaker 
authority  of  either  early  or  recent  date. 

Of  the  many  apologists  who  essay  to  deal 
witli  this  subject,  the  Rev.  Dr.  George  E. 
Ellis  is  probably  the  best  informed  ;  and 
if  he  could  but  address  himself  to  the  mat- 
ter with  a  mind  free  from  the  apparently 
inevitable  New  England  pi-ejudice,  he  might 
do  histor}^  important  service  by  correcting 
the  errors  of  his  predecessors.  He  finds 
something  to  admire  in  Quakers  and  Qua- 
kerism, and  something  to  condemn  in  Pu- 
ritans and  Puritanism.  His  judgments  are 
not  always  consistent,  and  they  sometimes 
positively  conflict  with  each  other,  but  in 
their  general  tenor  and  bearing  they  co- 
incide with  the  conclusions  and  judgments 
of  other  apologists.  The  main  difference 
is,   that  while  such   critics  as  Parker  and 

1  A  Short  History  of  the  English  Colonies  in  America,  p 
354. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  79 

Dexter  indulge  in  wholesale  condemnation 
of  the  Friends,  Dr.  Ellis's  verdict  is  relieved 
by  some  recognition  of  the  Quaker  virtues 
and  by  a  recommendation  of  mercy.  He 
concedes  that  "  the  Quakers  had  hold  in 
common  of  an  advanced  truth,  quick  with 
the  energy  of  the  Spirit."  He  grants  that 
*'  they  were  the  advanced  pleaders  for  a. 
liberty  which  is  now  our  life,  for  a  form  of 
faith  and  piety  which  alone  has  power  for 
a  free  soul."  He  "  can  apprehend  the  high 
and  pure  motive  which  not  only  led,  but 
really  inspired  these  unwelcome  missionaries 
to  our  bay."  He  pays  a  tribute  to  their 
"  sincerity  "  and  to  their  "  meek,  but  alwaj's 
unflinching  endurance  of  contumely  and  vio- 
lence." He  even  admits  that  "  much  of 
their  terrible  abusiveness  of  language  was 
wholly  free  from  malice  and  any  ill-inten- 
tion, but  was  prompted  wholly  from  an 
honest  and  severely  righteous  sense  of  the 
errors  and  superstitions  which  they  as- 
sailed." 

It  is  not  easy  for  the  ordinary  mind  to 
understand  how  a  people,  confessedly  gov- 
erned by  a  sense  of  religious  duty  and  led 
and  inspired  to  come  here  by  a  high  :ind 
pure   motive,  were    at   the  same   time  im- 


80  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

pelled  by  an  "aimless  spirit  of  annoyance," 
or  that,  "  by  every  rule  of  right  and  i-eason, 
they  ought  to  have  kept  away."  Nor  is  it 
less  difficult  to  realize  that  the  pleaders  for 
a  form  of  faith  and  piety  which  alone  has 
power  for  a  free  soul  uttered,  "  in  a  prophet- 
ical way,"  "  crude  and  indigested  notions  " 
that  "  sounded  like  the  wildest  rant,"  to  be 
relieved  of  the  reproach  of  blasphemy  onlj"- 
by  being  referred  to  "  a  besotted  stupidity 
or  a  shade  of  distraction."  There  is  a  sharp 
contrast,  if  not  flat  contradiction,  between 
the  portraiture  of  the  Friends,  as  we  have 
just  seen  it,  and  the  following  sketch,  drawn 
by  the  same  hand.  The  Quakers,  says  Dr. 
Ellis,  were  "  seditious  and  rancorous  visit- 
ors," and  "  most  of  them  "  were  "  lawless  and 
ignorant."  They  were  "  intrusive,  pester- 
ing, indecent,  and  railing  disturbers  of  early 
Massachusetts,"  who  "  regarded  themselves 
as  led  by  the  Spirit  to  give  '  testimony,' 
which,  as  things  then  were,  would  subvert 
all  civil  and  religious  order  in  this  colony, 
and  overwhelm  it  with  confusion  and 
anarchy.  ...  A  spell  wrought  upon  their 
spirits,  and  they  yielded  themselves,  as  they 
thought,  to  a  guidance  from  above.  .  .  . 
Modest  and  pure  women  under  this  spell 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  81 

would  rush  into  the  public  highways,  or 
into  a  crowded  place  of  worship,  and,  inde- 
pendent of  all  the  art  or  materials  of  dress- 
makers, would  make  a  distressing  spectacle 
of  themselves.  One  such,  coming  into  a 
meeting-house  in  this  condition,  had  smeared 
herself  with  black  paint  as  a  sign,  she  said, 
of  the  black  pox,  which,  she  prophesied, 
God  would  send  on  this  cruel  jurisdiction." 
This  graphic  picture  is  drawn  for  our  con- 
templation in  order  to  "  relieve  the  burden 
of  wanton  and  ruthless  cruelty  cast  upon 
our  legislators,"  who  were  "  beyond  meas- 
ure provoked  and  goaded  to  the  course 
which  they  pursued.  .  .  .  Their  Quaker 
tormentors  were  the  aggressive  party  ;  they 
wantonly  initiated  the  strife,  and  with  dog- 
ged pertinacity  persisted  in  outrages  which 
drove  the  authorities  almost  to  frenzy.  .  .  . 
Our  Fathers  cared  little,  if  at  all,  for  the 
Quaker  theology.  They  did  not  get  so  far 
as  that  in  dealing  with  them.  .  .  .  Our  Fa- 
thers dealt  with  them  on  the  score  of  their 
manners,  their  lawlessness,  and  their  offen- 
sive speech  and  behavior." 

It   is   inconceivable   how   an    artist   can 
produce  two  such  irreconcilable  pictures  as 
these  with  but  one  subject  for  his  model, 
6 


82  TflE  QUAKER  INVASION 

and  ic  must  be  left  to  Philip  sober  and 
Philip  drunk  to  settle  their  own  differences. ^ 
The  substance  of  Dr.  Ellis's  diatribe  against 
the  Friends  is  reproduced  here,  because,  as 
has  been  said,  it  is  an  epitome  of  current 
misconception,  and  because  the  main  argu- 
ment used  to  justify  the  Puritans  rests 
upon  this  misconception.  The  aim  and 
purpose  of  Dr.  Ellis  is  to  portra}^  the  con- 
ditions under  which  the  Puritans  were 
"  goaded,"  and  thus  to  account  for  "  the 
course  which  they  pursued."  In  opposition 
to  his  view  of  the  subject,  three  statements 
or  propositions  are  offered  for  the  considera- 
tion of  the  reader. 

First.  The  testimonies  of  the  Quakers 
were  not  blasphemous,  nor  do  they  indicate 
"a  besotted  stupidity  or  a  shade  of  distrac- 
tion." On  the  contrary,  they  were  fer- 
vently religious,  and  were  often  marked 
by  a  vigorous  understanding  that  would  do 
credit  even  to  some  of  the  wise  inen  of  our 
own  generation.  Much  of  their  testimony, 
had  it  been  heeded^  would  have  strength- 
ened the  civil    and   religious  order   of    the 

1  For  wliat  Dr.  Ellis  has  written  about  the  Quakers,  see 
Massachusetts  and  its  Early  History  ;  The  Memorial  Hidnry 
of  Boston,  vol.  i. ;  and  Proceedings  of  the  Massachusetts  Ilii- 
torical  Society,  vol.  xviii. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  83 

colo^5^  They  testified  in  behalf  of  a  re- 
ligious and  social  order  that  grows  out  of 
an  intelligent  and  just  administration  of  an 
enlightened  government.  Dr.  Ellis  has  su- 
perior facilities  for  historical  investigation, 
and  no  doubt  holds  in  reserve  much  valua- 
ble information  accumulated  during  many 
years  of  arduous  studj'.  If  he  has  evidence 
to  sustain  his  cruel  characterization  of  the 
testimony  of  the  Friends  he  ought  to  pub- 
lish it.  Such  reports  as  are  ordinarily  ac- 
cessible do  not  warrant  his  accusation  ;  and 
until  he  makes  it  good  by  substantial  and 
conclusive  proof,  one  is  obliged  to  suspect 
that  he  has  carelessly  adopted  the  unsus- 
tained  charges  of  some  earlier  writer. 

The  sermons  of  the  Quakers  were  never 
written  nor  reported  ;  but  there  are  letters 
addressed  to  the  authorities,  now  on  file 
with  the  court  records,  and  also  other  letters 
printed  in  Friends'  journals  and  histories, 
which  not  only  reveal  the  religious  and 
mental  character  and  the  views  of  the  writ- 
ers, but  may  also  fairly  be  relied  upon  to 
indicate  some  of  the  prevailing  Quaker  opin- 
ions, both  as  to  ecclesiastical  and  civil  law. 
A  fac-simile  of  the  signatures  of  two  Qua- 
ker women  to  one  of  these  letters  is  printed 


84  THE  QUAKER  INVASION 

in  "  The  Memorial  History  of  Boston  "  (vol. 
i.,  p.  185).  The  letter  is  addressed  "To 
thee  John  Indicott  and  the  rest  of  the  rulers 
of  this  jurisdiction."  The  editor  calls  it  "a 
characteristic  letter,"  and  one  therefore 
naturally  expects  to  find  it  irreligious,  where 
it  does  not  betoken  "a  besotted  stupidity  or 
a  shade  of  distraction."  So  far  from  this, 
a  profoundly  religious  feeling  pervades  the 
whole  letter,  and  the  unsparing  scriptural 
denunciation  is  relieved  by  a  tenderness  and 
pathos  that  free  the  writers  from  all  suspi- 
cion of  malice.  The  women  were  evidently 
of  ordinary  education,  for  their  style  is  not 
only  quaint,  but  often  obscure.  It  must  be 
remembered,  however,  that  the  writing  of 
even  literary  men  in  those  days  was  prolix 
and  redundant,  and  much  of  it  must  be  re- 
constructed in  order  to  be  made  perfectly 
clear  and  readily  intelligible  to  the  modern 
eye  and  ear.  The  spirit  of  this  letter  may 
be  judged  from  the  following  abstract  :  — 

"  We  can  rejoice  that  we  are  counted 
worthy  and  called  hereunto  to  bear  our 
testimony  against  a  cruel  and  hard-hearted 
people  who  are  slighting  the  day  of  your 
visitation  and  foolishly  requiting  the  Lord 
for  his  goodness  and  shamefully  intreating 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  85 

his  hidden  ones  whom  he  has  sent  amongst 
you  to  call  you  from  the  evil  of  your  ways. 
.  .  .  The  Lord  our  God  is  arising  as  a 
mighty  and  terrible  one  to  plead  the  cause 
of  liis  people  and  to  clear  the  cause  of  the 
innocent :  but  surely  he  will  in  no  wise 
acquit  the  guilty  who  have  shed  the  blood 
of  the  innocent  and  ye  shall  assuredly  feel 
his  judgment.  .  .  .  Woe,  woe  unto  you  for 
you  have  forsaken  the  Lord,  the  fountain 
of  living  water,  and  are  greedily  swallow- 
ing the  polluted  waters  that  come  through 
the  stinking  ^  channel  of  your  howling  mas- 
ter's unclean  spirits ;  whom  Christ  cries 
woe  against  and  who  cannot  cease  from 
sin,  having  hearts  exercised  with  covetous 
practices  :  woe  unto  them  (saith  the  Scrip- 
tures) for  they  have  run  greedily  after  the 
error  of  Balaam  who  loved  the  wages  of 
unrighteousness.  .  .  . 

"  Surely  the  overflowing  scourge  will  pass 
over  you  and  sweep  away  your  refuge  of 
lies  and  your  covenant  with  hell  shall  be 
disannulled.  .  .  .  Oh  that  you  had  owned 
the  day  of  your  visitation  before  it  had  been 

1  This  old  English  word,  now  almost  obsolete  except  ia 
vulgar  circles,  was  familiar  to  polite  ears  and  in  frequent  use 
in  the  seventeenth  century.  See  quotation  from  Milton,  p.  12,' 
and  from  Kev.  John  Higginson,  p.  95. 


86  THE    QUAKER  INVASION' 

too  late  and  had  hearkened  to  the  voice  oi 
his  servants  whom  he  hath  sent  unto  you 
asain  and  acrain  in  love  and  tenderness  to 
yourselves.  .  .  .  And  then  these  wicked 
laws  had  never  been  made  nor  prosecuted. 
.  .  .  Your  glorying  will  be  turned  into 
shame  and  confusion  of  face  and  your 
beauty  will  be  as  a  fading  flower  which 
suddenly  withereth  away.  .  .  .  We  have 
written  to  clear  our  conscience,  and  if  you 
should  account  us  your  enemies  for  sjjeak- 
ing  the  truth,  and  heat  the  furnace  of  our 
affliction  hotter,  yet  know  we  shall  not  fall 
down  and  worship  your  wills  ;  ...  all  the 
sufferings  that  we  have  endured  (from  you) 
for  Christ,  have  not  at  all  marred  his  visage 
to  us,  but  we  still  see  more  beauty  in  hini ; 
well  knowing  that  as  they  did  unto  him  so 
they  will  do  unto  us,  and  now  they  are 
come  to  pass,  we  remember  that  he  said 
these  things.  Maky  Tkask, 

Margaret^  Smith. 

"  From  your  house  of  correction  where  we  have 
been  unjustly  restrained  from  our  children 
and  habitations,  one  of  us  above  ten  mouths 
and  the  other  about  eight ;  and  where  we 
are  yet  continued  by  your  oppressors  that 
know  no  shame.  Boston,  21^'  of  y^  lO™"^ 
1660." 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  87 

When  Wenlock  Christison  was  on  trial 
for  his  life,  he  said  to  tlie  court,  "  Do  not 
think  to  weary  out  the  living  God  by  tak- 
ing away  the  lives  of  his  servants  !  What 
do  you  gain  by  it  ?  For  the  last  man  that 
you  put  to  death,  here  are  five  come  in  his 
room :  and  if  you  have  power  to  take  my 
life  from  me,  God  can  raise  up  the  same 
principle  of  life  in  ten  of  his  servants  and 
send  them  among  you,  in  my  room,  that 
you  may  have  torment  upon  torment,  which 
is  your  portion  ;  for  there  is  no  peace  to  the 
wicked,  saith  my  God." 

The  righteous  indignation  of  this  heroic 
soul  is  sometimes  referred  to  as  evidence  of 
a  malicious  spirit.  Does  it  not  rather  show 
the  spirit  of  a  martyr  who,  in  the  hour  of 
peril,  was  faithful  to  the  memorj^  of  his  mur- 
dered friends  and  dared  to  confront  their 
executioners  with  uncompromising  fidelity 
to  the  cause  for  which  they  died  ? 

John  Burs  tow  was  one  of  the  five  Friends 
referred  to  by  Christison,  who  had  come 
into  the  presence  of  the  court  to  suppoi't 
him  in  the  hour  of  trial.  But  little  is 
known  of  him  beyond  this  fact,  and  that 
while  in  gaol,  in  1661,  he  wrote  a  letter  to 
his  persecutors  in   which    he  expresses  his 


88  THE    QUAKER   INVASION 

belief  that  their  hearts  were  hardened  be- 
yond redemption,  and  that  the  righteous 
judgments  of  the  Lord  would  be  poured 
forth  upon  them.  His  letter  is  unmistaka- 
bl}^  that  of  a  Puritan  who,  having  been  con- 
verted to  Quakerism,  nevertheless  continued 
to  draw  his  inspiration  mainly  from  the  old 
Hebrew  prophets.  A  few  sentences  will 
give  the  spirit  of  the  letter,  which,  however 
denunciatory  it  ma}'^  be,  is  neither  blasphe- 
mous nor  stupid.  "  Your  assemblies  are  an 
abomination  to  the  Lord,  your  hands  are 
defiled  with  blood  ...  ye  that  have  an  ear 
to  hear,  hearken  and  come  forth  from  among 
them  that  ye  may  be  as  fire-brands  plucked 
out  of  the  fire,  for  as  certainly  as  the  plagues 
were  poured  forth  upon  hard-hearted  Pha- 
raoh, shall  the  plagues  and  judgments  of  the 
Lord  be  poured  forth  upon  the  inhabitants 
of  this  town  of  Boston." 

Josiah  South  wick  was  a  representative 
Quaker.  A  full  recital  of  his  sufferings 
would  melt  a  heart  of  stone,  and  yet  he 
addressed  a  letter,  from  the  gaol,  to  the 
General  Court,  of  which  the  following  is  an 
exti'act.  It  fitly  indicates  the  spirit  of  the 
entire  letter :  "  Some  have  said  we  ai'e  the 
persecutors,  but  we  know  we  are  the  perse- 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  89 

cuted :  yet  we  can  freely  say,  the  Lord  lay 
not  your  sin  to  your  charge,  for  I  believe 
many  of  you  know  not  what  you  do." 

During  her  imprisonment,  Mary  Dyer 
addressed  a  letter  to  the  "  General  Court  at 
Boston,"  in  which  she  said,  "  And  have  you 
no  other  weapons  to  fight  with  against  spir- 
itual wickedness  as  you  call  it?  Seai'ch 
with  the  light  of  Christ  in  you  and  it  will 
show  you  of  whom  you  take  counsel.  .  .  . 
It  is  not  my  own  life  I  seek,  but  the  life 
of  the  seed  which  I  know  the  Lord  hath 
blessed.  And  I  know  this  ;  that  if  you  con- 
firm your  law,  the  Lord  will  overthrow  both 
your  law  and  you,  by  his  righteous  judg- 
ments and  plagues  poured  justly  upon  you. 
In  love  and  in  the  spirit  of  meekness,  I 
again  beseech  you,  for  I  have  no  enmity  to 
the  persons  of  any  :  but  you  shall  know  that 
God  will  not  be  mocked." 

Viewed  from  a  literary,  moral,  or  religious 
standpoint,  Mary  Dyer's  letters  (and  this 
is  equally  true  of  the  letters  and  other  writ- 
ings of  very  many  early  Quakers)  compare 
favorably  with  the  best  efforts  of  the  lead- 
ing Puritans.  Daniel  Gould,  a  compara- 
tively illiterate  Quaker,  wrote  a  letter  dated 
"rod  Hand  the   3   month  1660,"  and  ad- 


90  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

dressed  "  To  the  rulers  &  people  of  the  town 
&  jurisdiction  of  bostene."  He  appealed  to 
them  as  follows :  "  I  am  grieved  to  see  your 
cruelty  and  your  liard-heartedness  against 
a  people  that  cannot  flatter  3'ou  nor  will- 
fully do  you  any  wrong,  but  if  any  should 
do  you  any  wrong  or  trespass  against  any 
man,  let  a  righteous  law  take  hold  of  such ; 
but  what  need  any  law  be  made  against 
the  innocent,  those  that  do  you  no  wrong. 
.  .  .  Concerning  religion  let  every  one  be 
fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind  and  wor- 
ship according  as  God  shall  persuade  his 
own  heart,  and  if  any  worship  not  God  as 
they  ought  to  do  and  yet  liveth  quietly  and 
peaceably  with  their  neighbors  and  country- 
men and  doeth  them  no  wrong,  is  it  not 
safer  for  you  to  let  them  alone  to  receive 
their  reward  from  him  who  said,  I  will  ren- 
der vengeance  to  mine  enemies  and  reward 
them  that  hate  me.  .  .  .  Let  God  alone  be 
Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  not  man,  and 
let  us  have  the  same  liberty  and  freedom 
amongst  j'ou,  as  other  Englishmen  have  to 
come  and  visit  our  friends  and  kindred  and 
do  that  which  is  honest  and  lawful  to  be 
done  in  buying  or  selling ;  and  if  any  have 
a  mind  to  reason  or  speak  coucerniug  the 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  91 

way  and  worship  of  God,  that  they  may  not 
be  put  in  prison  or  punished  for  it,  and  so 
let  people  have  liberty  to  try  all  things  and 
hold  fast  that  which  is  good."i  Had  the 
rulers  heeded  the  advice  of  this  uneducated 
but  liberal  and  clear-headed  Quaker,  instead 
of  the  bigoted  counsel  of  the  cultivated  and 
accomplished  John  Norton,  they  might  have 
established  a  civil  and  religious  order  in 
the  colony  which  would  have  forever  marked 
them  as  just  and  enlightened  legislators. 

The  second  proposition  to  be  considered 
is,  that  whereas  Dr.  Ellis's  arraignment  of 
Friends  gives  the  impression  that  extrava- 
gant and  offensive  behavior  was  the  rule 
with  them,  the  truth  is  that  their  extrava- 
gances were  comparatively  infrequent,  and, 
aside  from  their  use  of  emphatic  scriptural 
language,  were  exceptional. 

The  third  statement  is,  that  the  persecu- 
tion of  Friends  was  not  only  not  the  result, 
but  was  the  direct  cause  of  such  improprie- 
ties as  may  be  proved  upon  them.  These 
two  propositions  may  be  considered  jointly. 
As  fair  specimens  of  the  invective  in- 
dulged in  by  the  Quakers,  Dr.  Ellis  quotes 

1  For  this  aad  other  Quaker  letters,   see   Appendix,  pp. 
202-222. 


92  THE   QUAKER  INVASION 

some  harsh  language  from   the  journal  of 
Humphrey  Norton,  which  he  found  in  the 
British  Museum.     It  is  not  in  any  of  our 
libraries,   but  other  Quaker  works,  written 
during  the  same  period,  confirm  the  belief 
that   Friends,   smarting   under   a  sense    of 
wrong  and  personal  injury,   did  not  hesi- 
tate to  call  men  and  things  by  their  right 
names.    And  yet  they  were  quick  to  forgive, 
and  they  bore  no  malice.     Their  denuncia- 
tion of  persecution  and  superstitious  church 
ordinances    was    scriptural    almost  without 
exception.     It  is  impossible  for  any  one  to 
cite  a  single  instance  of  indecent  railing  by 
a  Quaker,  such  as  we    have  seen  was  in- 
dulged in    with   comparative    impunity  by 
the  Puritan  Edmund  Batter,  a  government 
official  and   church-member.      It    may   not 
only  be  admitted,  but  all  lovers  of  fair  play 
must    find    satisfaction    in    the    fact,    that 
Friends  resorted  to  scriptural   weapons  in 
the    unequal    conflict.      It   is  questionable, 
however,  whethei'  the  practice  was  so  habit- 
ual with  them  as  is  represented.     It  is  more 
probable  that  their  invective  was  the  special 
utterance    extorted    b}'-   special    or   specific 
deeds  of  Puritan  violence.      The    Puritan 
court  records  seem  to  confirm  this  view,  for 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  93 

the  reports  of  arrests  and  trials  are  remark- 
ably free  from  charges  of  rudeness  of  either 
speech  or  behavior,  and  it  is  noteworthy 
that  in  the  scriptural  argument  against 
Quakerism  written  by  John  Norton  and 
published  by  order  of  the  General  Court, 
October  18,  1659,  it  is  alleged  that  "  the 
practice  of  the  Quakers  ...  is  to  belch 
out  railing  and  cursing  speeches,"  but  the 
accusation  is  qualified  by  the  words,  "  some 
of  them  at  least."  ^  It  is  a  mistake  to  sup- 
pose that  those  Friends  who  indulged  in 
what,  to  polite  ears  of  this  age,  sounds  ex- 
travagant and  ill-mannered,  were  in  any 
way  peculiar,  or  that  they  spoke  in  an  un- 
known tongue  ;  for  they  merely  conformed 
to  the  manners  and  customs  characteristic 
of  the  age  in  which  they  lived,  and  espe- 
cially characteristic  of  the  Puritans.  This 
has  already  been  demonstrated  as  to  Eng- 
land, in  the  preceding  pages,  by  quotations 
from  Puritan  authors  who  called  clergy- 
men of  the  Established  Church  "  Baal- 
ites  and  Balaamites,"  and  the  "  service 
book  "  an  "  abomination,"  and  by  citations 
of  the  acts  and  language  of  other  men  and 
writers,  including    Milton.     In   New   Eng- 

1  See  Appendix,  p.  147 


94  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

land  the  same  customs  were  prevalent. 
The  Puritans  were  forward  to  abuse  men 
with  their  tongue,  and  were  perfectly  at 
home  in  the  vindictive  vernacular.  We 
have  already  observed  how  impossible  it 
was  for  them  to  enact  a  law  aimed  at 
Friends,  without  ushering  it  in  with  a  vitu- 
perative epithet.  In  these  laws  and  other 
documents  we  are  made  familiar  with  such 
terms  as  cursed  sect  of  hereticks,  blasphe- 
mouth  opinions,  devilish  opinions,  pestilent 
errors  and  practices,  diabolical  doctrine,  per- 
nicious sect,  horrid  tenets,  instrument  of 
satan,  rogues  and  vagabonds,  incorrigible 
rogues,  etc.  Charles  Chauncey,  President 
of  Harvard  College,  in  nrging  the  enforce- 
ment of  capital  punishment,  spoke  of  six 
Quaker  prisoners  as  "  six  wolves  in  a 
trap,"  to  which,  in  a  later  day,  Elizabeth 
Hooten  retorted  by  denouncing  the  college 
as  "  a  cage  of  unclean  birds." 

In  Hutchinson's  History  it  is  related  that 
at  the  ordination  of  Mr.  Higginson,  in  1660, 
John  Smith  of  Salem  was  arrested  for  mak- 
ing a  disturbance  by  crying  out,  "What  you 
are  going  about  to  set  up,  our  God  is  pull- 
ing down ; "  while  Bishop,  without,  however, 
designating   the    time   or   occasion,   quotes 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  95 

Higginson  as  stigmatizing  the  Quaker's  In- 
ward Liglit  as  "a  stinking  vapor  from  hell." 
Were  not  the  Puritans  quite  equal  to  the 
Friends  in  extravagance  of  language  and 
the  use  of  harsh  and  vindictive  epithets? 

It  is  commonly  understood  that  the  Qua- 
kers constantly  interrupted  the  religious 
meetings  and  the  famous  Thursday  lecture 
'of  the  Puritans,  but  this  is  an  error  started 
by  some  malicious  or  careless  commentator 
and  greedily  adopted  by  others.  In  rare 
instances,  such  as  the  one  Hutchinson  re- 
lates, they  may  have  done  so;  but  both  Pu- 
ritan and  Quaker  records  prove  that  the 
Friends,  as  a  rule,  waited  until  service  had 
ended,  before  delivering  their  testimony, 
and  the  same  witnesses  prove  that  instead 
of  being  impelled  by  an  "  aimless  spirit  of 
annoyance  "  to  address  church  congrega- 
tions, they  were  inspired  by  an  enlightened 
distrust  of  religious  ordinances  and  Chris- 
tian ministration  that  fostered  superstition, 
dogmatism,  and  persecution.  When  they 
attempted  to  hold  their  own  meetings,  they 
were  violently  assaulted,  their  houses  were 
invaded,  and  they  were  haled  before  the 
magistrates.  A  very  large  number  of  the 
arrests,  of  which  there  is  any  report,  were 


96  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

made  because  Friends  refused  to  attend 
church  and  bravely  maintained  their  right 
to  hold  meetings  of  their  own.  Edmund 
Batter,  the  two  Archers,  Benjamin  Felton, 
Henry  Skerry  —  all  church-members  —  and 
Tiiomas  Roots,  are  named  by  Bishop  as  the 
"  bloody  huntsmen  "  who  made  themselves 
especially  prominent  in  ferreting  out  Qua- 
ker meetings  and  dragging  the  "  cursed 
heretics  "  to  judgment.  The  Quakers  were 
persecuted  and  goaded  into  going  to  the 
sanctuary  of  these  inquisitors,  and,  when 
meeting  or  lecture  was  over,  protesting 
against  such  outrages  and  the  wickedness  of 
both  Christian  ministers  and  the  religion 
that  sanctioned  them.  A  careful  search  shows 
that  in  two  instances  the  Friends  enforced 
their  righteous  protests  by  the  unique 
method  of  breaking  bottles.  Two  women, 
Sarah  Gibbons  and  Dorothy  Waugh,  went 
through  this  dramatic  performance  in  "  2d 
Month,  1658,"  in  the  presence  of  John  Nor- 
ton, "  as  a  sign  of  his  emptiness."  ^  Both  of 
them  had  been,  previously,  the  victims  of 
persecution.  In  1663,  Thomas  Newhouse, 
another  sufferer,  bore  his  testimony  in  the 
same  manner,  crying  out,  "  So  they  should 
be  dashed  in  pieces."  Newhouse  subse- 
1  See  Appendix,  p.  223. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  97 

quently  fell  from  grace,  and  was  disowned 
as  an  apostate  by  more  sober  Friends,  to 
whom  he  was  a  fi*equent  source  of  trouble.^ 
When  Wenlock  Christison  was  on  trial  for 
his  life,  in  1661,  Catherine  Chattara  at- 
tended court,  appropriately  clothed  in  sack- 
cloth and  ashes.  It  is  reported,  also,  that 
Elizabeth  Hooten,^  who  came  here  with  an 
express  permit  from  the  King  to  purchase 
property  and  to  become  a  resident,  but  was 
refused  permission  to  do  so  by  the  author- 
ities, was  arrested  as  a  "  vagabond "  and 
barbarously  whipped  for  crying  aloud,  "  Re- 
pent," in  the  streets  of  Cambridge.  Old 
records  and  authorities  contain  these  and  a 
few  other  illustrations  of  what  are  known 
as  the  extravagances  of  the  Quakers  ;  but 
instead  of  bristling  all  over  with  them  as 
Puritan  apologists  would  have  us  believe,  it 
is  impossible  to  find  any  considerable  num- 
ber, and  the  few  that  are  to  be  found  are 
readily  traced  to  the  persecution.  Some  of 
the  more  familiar  instances  are  counted  as 
men   in   buckram  by  the  excited  imagina- 

1  William  Edmundson's  Journal,  p.  69. 

2  Believed  to  be  the  first  convert  to  Quakerism  made  by 
George  Fox.  See  brief  account  of  her  sufferings  in  Appen- 
dix, p.  177. 

7 


98  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

tions  of  writers,  who  magnify  their  number 
to  a  degree  that  would  honor  Falstaff. 

The  most  serious  of  all  the  charges  on  the 
score  of  extravagance  deserves  separate  con- 
sideration. One  has  a  right  to  infer  from 
the  sketch  Dr.  Ellis  has  given  of  the  state 
of  affairs  during  the  period  which  he  de- 
scribes, that  it  was  not  uncommon  for  Qua- 
ker women  to  parade  the  streets  and  to  en- 
ter the  churches  un attired,  and  that  the 
colonial  authorities  were  goaded  into  a  re- 
sort to  barbarous  legislation  by  such  wild 
and  crazy  freaks.^  There  is  a  serious  mis- 
apprehension of  the  truth  here.  The  rec- 
ords furnish  instances  of  two  women  who 
were  literally  stripped  of  their  clothing  by 
the  authorities ;  and  many  other  instances 
of  women  who  were  stripped  from  the  waist 
upwards  and  exposed  to  public  gaze,  but 
from  the  arrival  of  Mary  Fisher  and  Ann 
Austin  upon  these  inhospitable  shores,  in 
1656,  down  to  the  passage  of  the,"  vagabond 
law  "  in  May,  1661,  in  which  the  cruelties 
of  corporal  punishment  culminated,  —  dur- 
ing this  entire  time,  there  was  not  a  single 
case  of  such  social  indecorum  by  the  Qua- 

1  Massachusetts  and  its  Early  History  ;  also  The  Memorial 
History  of  Boston,  vol.  i. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  99 

kers,  —  not  one.  Dr.  Ellis  cites  the  case  of 
a  woman  who  appeared  in  this  condition  in 
Boston,  her  body  being  smeared  with  black 
paint.  He  is  wrong.  The  record  shows 
that  this  woman,  Margaret  Brewster,  was 
abundantly  clothed,  and  it  also  shows  that 
this  event  occurred  in  the  year  1677  ;  ^  that 
is,  fifteen  years  after  the  last  year  of  the  times 
of  which  Dr.  Ellis  professes  to  give  a  his- 
tory !  In  two  instances  only,  once  in  "  9th 
mo.  1662"  and  once  in  May,  1663,  women 
appeared  in  public  without  their  garments, 
and  in  both  cases  their  acts  were  the  result 
of  persecution.  A  detailed  report  of  the 
Ward  well  case  may  serve  to  help  us  in  ac- 
counting for  them.  Thomas  Wardwell  was 
a  Puritan  and  a  freeman  of  the  Massachu- 
setts colony.  He  lived  in  Boston,  where 
on  November  23,  1634,  his  son  Eliakim 
was  baptized.  Eliakim  removed  to  Hamp- 
ton about  the  year  1659.  It  is  not  known 
at  what  time  he  embraced  the  Quaker  faith, 
but  on  April  8,  1662,  he  was  fined  for  ab- 
sence from  church  on  twenty-six  Sabbaths. 
In  December-,  1662,   Ann   Coleman,   Mary 

1  Judge  Sewall's  Diary,  vol.  i.  p.  43.  For  a  ven-  inter- 
esting report  of  Margaret  Brewster's  trial,  etc.,  see  Appeudix, 
op.  193-202. 


100  TEE    QUAKER   INVASION' 

Tomkins,  and  Alice  Ambrose,  at  the  insti- 
gation of  Rev.  Mr.  Rayner,  and  by  order  of 
deputy  magistrate  Richard  Walden,  were 
stripped  naked  from  the  middle  upward, 
tied  to  a  cart,  and,  though  the  weather  was 
"bitter  cold,"  were  driven  through  several 
towns.  On  arrival  at  each  town  they  were 
cruelly  whipped.  At  Dovei%  while  the  flog- 
ging was  being  administered,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Rayner  "  stood  and  looked  and  laughed  at 
it,"  whereupon  Eliakim  Wardwell,  who  was 
also  present,  reproved  the  reverend  gentle- 
man for  his  brutality,  and  thereby  added 
one  more  piece  of  insolence  to  the  list  of 
Quaker  "  outrages."  For  this  offensive  be- 
havior he  was  put  in  the  stocks  along  with 
William  Fourbish,  who  had  also  manifested 
irreverence  by  rebuking  the  pious  Rayner. 
Soon  after  this  event,  Wardwell  harbored 
and  entertained  his  friend  Wenlock  Christi- 
son.  Such  an  offense  was  too  grievous  to 
be  overlooked,  and  the  Rev.  Seaborn  Cot- 
ton, with  truncheon  in  hand,  headed  a  party 
of  order-loving  citizens,  and  marched  from 
his  own  home  to  the  house  of  Wardwell, 
some  two  miles  away.  Christison  received 
him  and  asked  him  "  what  he  did  with  that 
club  in  his  hand."     Pastor  Cotton  replied, 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  101 

saying,  "  lie  came  to  keep  the  wolves  from 
his  sheep."  Christison  was  immediately 
seized  and  dragged  away.  The  wolf  having 
been  secured,  Wardwell,  who,  as  head  of 
the  family,  was  the  bell-wether  of  Mr.  Cot- 
ton's flock  of  sheep,  was  summoned  to  court 
and  fined.  To  satisfy  the  fine,  his  saddle- 
horse  was  taken  from  him.  The  horse  was 
worth  fourteen  pounds,  and  as  this  sura  ex- 
ceeded the  fine,  a  vessel  of  green  ginger  was 
left  at  his  house  to  settle  the  account.  But 
the  green  ginger  speedily  went  the  way  of 
the  horse,  for  Wardwell  was  soon  fined 
again  for  his  own  and  his  wife's  absence 
from  church,  and  in  time  was  rendered  al- 
most penniless  by  repeated  seizures  of  his 
property.  The  Rev.  Seaborn  Cotton,  it 
seems,  had  a  sharp  eye  for  business,  and, 
knowing  the  Wardwells  would  not  pay  for 
preaching  they  did  not  hear  and  would  not 
countenance  by  their  presence,  he  shrewdly 
sold  his  "  rate  "  —  the  sum  of  money  the 
Wardwells  were  obliged  by  law  to  contrib- 
ute to  his  support  —  to  one  Nathaniel  Boul- 
ter. How  large  a  shave  this  dealer  in  lapsed 
church  tithes  charged  Cotton,  we  shall  never 
know.  We  do  know,  however,  that  before 
he   concluded   the   bargain  he  visited   the 


102  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

Ward  wells  under  pretense  of  borrowing  n, 
little  corn  for  himself,  which  they  willingly 
lent  Lira.  Having  thus  surreptitiously  dis- 
covered the  quantity  of  corn  in  the  crib, 
and  its  whereabouts,  he,  "  Judas-like,"  went 
and  bought  the  "  rate  "  and  then  returned 
and  "  measured  the  corn  away  as  he 
pleased." 

Lydia  Wardwell  was  married  to  Eliakim, 
October  17,  1659.  She  also  was  a  Pu- 
ritan, and  a  church-member  to  the  manor 
born,  being  the  daughter  of  Isaac  Perkins, 
who  was  a  freeman  of  the  colony.  She  is 
described  as  "  a  young  and  tender,  chaste 
woman,"  and  was  no  doubt  such.  She  be- 
came a  Quaker,  with  her  husband,  and  in  a 
loyal,  wifely  way  had  shared  the  trials  and 
sufferings  to  which  they  had  been  doomed 
during  the  few  years  of  their  married  life. 
She  knew  the  story  of  Ann  Austin  and 
Mary  Fisher;  she  probably  had  witnessed 
the  flogging  of  her  own  friends,  Ann  Cole- 
man, Mary  Tomkins,  and  Alice  Ambrose, 
and  had  heard  the  laughter  of  the  Christian 
minister,  as  the  lash  descended  upon  their 
naked  bodies.  Four  of  her  friends  had  been 
hanged  and  scores  of  others  tortured.  The 
guest  of  her  fireside  had  been  kidnapped 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  103 

under  her  eyes  ;  the  rapacious  church  tithe 
dealer  and  pious  magistrates  had  stripped 
her  home  of  even  the  grass  that  grew  in  the 
meadow.  The  burden  laid  upon  this  bride 
was  too  heavy  for  her  young  spirit,  and,  in 
the  light  of  a  subsequent  event,  it  is  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  it  produced  mental 
aberration.  The  original  narrator  of  her 
sad  experience  states  that  while  these  troub- 
les fell  thick  and  fast  and  heavily  upon  her, 
she  was  repeatedly  sent  for,  to  go  to  church, 
"  to  give  a  reason  "  for  her  separation  from 
it.  Pestered  and  goaded  by  these  demands, 
and  probably  with  an  imagination  disor- 
dered by  her  sufferings,  she  answered  a 
summons  in  May,  1663,  by  disrobing  her 
body  and,  in  this  condition,  entering  the 
church.  It  was  "exceeding  hard,"  the  nar- 
rator says,  "  to  her  modest  and  shamefaced 
disposition,"  to  pass  through  this  terrible 
ordeal.  She  went  thus  as  a  "  sign  "  of  the 
spiritual  nakedness  of  her  persecutors.  This 
strange  and  dreadful  scene  occurred  at  the 
church  in  Newbury.  The  sequel  is  far 
more  shocking  to  us  than  the  deed  itself. 
The  poor  soul  was  arrested  and  on  the  5th 
of  May,  1663,  was  sentenced  by  the  court  at 
Ipswich  to  "  be  severely  whipped  and  pay 


104  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

costs  and  fees  to  the  marsball  of  Hampton 
for  bringing  her,  10s.  Qd.  and  fees,  2s.  6J." 
In  accordance  with  this  sentence  "  she  was 
tied  to  the  fence  post  of  the  tavern  .  .  . 
stripped  from  her  waist  upwards,  with  her 
naked  breasts  to  the  splinters  of  the  posts 
and  then  sorely  lashed  with  twenty  or 
thirty  cruel  stripes."  ^  Previous  to  this,  in 
9th  mo.  of  1662,  Deborah  Wilson,  who  had 
passed  through  much  the  same  scenes  and 
sufferings,  appeared,  in  the  same  manner 
and  for  the  same  purpose,  in  the  streets  of 
Salem.  In  her  case  the  constable,  Daniel 
Rumbal,  it  is  said,  took  compassion  on  her, 
and  she  escaped  with  only  moderate  chas- 
tisement. It  is  quite  possible  that  the  con- 
stable had  misgivings,  or,  it  may  be,  positive 
information  regarding  her  mental  condition: 
for,  subsequently,  and  after  persecution  was 
measurably  abated,  she  was  arraigned  "  for 
frequently  absenting  herself  from  the  public 
ordinances,"  and  was  dismissed,  because,  as 
the  court  I'ecord  reads,  "  she  is  distempered 
in  her  head." 

The  acts  of  Lydia  Wardwell,  Deborah 
Wilson,  Thomas  Newhouse,  and  Margaret 
Brewster  play  a  conspicuous   part  in    the 

1  New  Enc/land  Judged,  pp.  376-377. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  105 

Quaker  melodrama  which  we  are  told  pre- 
ceded the  Puritan  tragedy.  The  truth  is, 
the}^  were  not  the  prelude  but  the  after- 
piece and  the  sequel  to  the  tragedy.  They 
are,  however,  repeatedly  and  persistently 
cited  in  order  to  justify  or  to  extenuate  the 
cruelties  of  the  Puritan  rulers.  Such  acts, 
we  are  told,  might  well  drive  a  sober  people 
to  desperation,  and  tempt  them  to  resort  to 
the  most  severe  remedies.  But  will  some 
apologist  take  the  trouble  to  explain  by 
what  process  of  reasoning  the  legislation  of 
1656  to  1661  can  be  attributed  to  offenses 
committed  in  1662,  1663,  and  1677  ?  His- 
torjr  must  be  read  backwards  that  this  in- 
tellectual feat  may  be  performed. 

The  popular  apologies  for  the  Puritans, 
that  now  pass  for  history  and  are  to  be  read 
in  the  pages  of  standard  works  (notably 
those  of  Palfrey  and  Bancroft),  as  well  as 
in  the  historical  essays  of  many  other  writ- 
ers, are  based  upon  an  unwarrantable  exag- 
geration of  the  character  and  number  of 
Quaker  offenses  and  upon  a  reckless  con- 
fusion of  dates.i  This  serious  and  fatal  de- 
fect necessarily  renders  such  historical  crit- 

1  Bryant  and  Gay's  Popular  Ilistory  of  the  United  States 
is  a  notable  exception.  Mr.  Gay  is  not  only  accurate  in  state- 
ment, but  impartial  in  his  judgments. 


106  THE    QUAKER   INVASION' 

icism  not  only  worthless  but  pernicious. 
The  modern  Quaker  has  a  right  to  appeal 
from  the  fiction  to  the  truth  of  history  in 
vindication  of  his  ancestors.  There  are 
scholai\s  in  the  old  Bay  State  who  are  never 
backward  when  the  Puritan  fathers  are  to 
be  defended.  They  are  competent  by 
knowledge,  experience,  and  ability  to  inves- 
tigate and  to  report.  Let  any  one  of  them 
examine  all  the  records  carefully,  with  an 
eye  for  the  truth,  and  publish  the  evidence 
upon  which  the  verdict  of  these  popular 
writers  is  supposed  to  rest.  It  will  be 
found  to  be  astonishingly  meagre.  Though 
"screaming  out  through  barred  windows" 
is  believed  to  have  been  a  popular  Quaker 
method  of  bearing  testimony,  but  few  such 
cases  are  to  be  found,  and  they  were  jus- 
tified by  the  provocation.  Friends  were 
sometimes  punished  by  being  put  in  the 
stocks,  and  occasionally,  while  enduring  this 
enforced  degradation,  they  testified  aloud 
against  the  wickedness  and  cruelty  of  the 
authorities.  Unless  it  can  be  shown  that 
the  prisoners  were  punished  because  of 
some  social  disorder,  it  would  be  unfair  to 
class  such  acts  as  extravagances.  Instances 
of  the  kind  are  very  rare.  If  they  are  nu- 
merous, let  us  have  them. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  107 

Interruption  of  church  service  occurred 
just  often  enough  to  suggest  the  popular  fic- 
tion as  to  its  frequency.  Down  to  the  pas- 
sage of  the  inhuman  law  of  May,  1661,  the 
offenses  were  confined  almost  exclusively  to 
righteous  rebuke  of  persecution,  sometimes 
by  letter  and  sometimes  verbally.  At- 
tempts to  address  the  ministers  and  people 
at  the  close  of  sermon  or  lecture  may  have 
occurred  a  dozen  times  during  the  entire  six 
years,  though  ordinary  authoi-ities  do  not 
furnish  so  many  cases.  Whether  or  not 
this  class  of  offenses  should  be  ranked  with 
the  "  extravagances,"  can  be  determined 
better  after  the  whole  matter  has  been  care- 
fully reviewed.  After  the  execution  of  four 
Quakers,  and  especially  after  the  passage 
of  the  law  of  May,  1661,  or,  to  put  it  in  an- 
other way,  as  the  persecution  waxed  hotter, 
the  testimony  of  Friends  became  more 
marked,  and  perhaps  more  frequent,  but 
even  then  the  number  of  those  who  were 
guilty  of  improper  acts  was  by  no  means 
great.  When  we  remember  the  bitter  and 
persistent  provocation,  we  can  but  admire 
the  calm,  quiet,  and  dignified  self-restraint 
exhibited  by  "most"  of  tliem.  Should  any 
competent   Puritan  apologist   attempt  the 


108  THE    QUAKER  INVASION' 

examination  suggested,  let  us  have  in  full 
the  "  wild  rant,"  the  outcome  of  "  besotted 
stupidity,"  with  the  circumstances  under 
which  it  was  uttered,  and  the  date.  Let 
him  cite  every  case  of  Quaker  indecorum 
and  indecency  he  can  find,  stating  exactly 
what  was  done  ov  said,  and  giving  the  pre- 
cise, or,  if  it  is  not  known,  the  approximate 
date  of  each  event.  Let  him  arrange  these 
cases  in  the  order  of  their  occurrence,  and, 
side  by  side  with  them,  quote  the  Puritan 
laws  with  the  dates  of  their  passage,  and, 
also,  all  other  provocatory  acts  of  the 
authorities.  Let  him  report  each  in  the 
proper  order  of  time  —  the  numerous  ar- 
rests, the  indictments,  the  pleas  of  the  pris- 
oners, the  notes  of  the  magistrates,  the 
trials,  convictions,  sentences,  and  punish- 
ments inflicted,  just  as  he  finds  them  on 
the  records.  It  will  not  suffice  to  say  that, 
in  general  terms,  the  Puritans  accused  the 
Quakers  of  "  contemptuous  behavior  to  au- 
thority," unless  substantiating  evidence  of 
the  alleged  misdemeanor  is  produced,  for, 
as  has  already  been  shown,  the  Puritan  offi- 
cials did  not  hesitate  to  bear  false  witness 
concerning  the  victims  of  their  pious  wrath. 
Such  evidence  is  clearly  of  slight  value  and 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  109 

inadmissible,  unless  it  is  competent  for  one 
and  the  same  party  to  perform  the  functions 
of  judge,  jury,  prosecuting  attorney,  and 
witness,  all  in  one.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered, too,  that  by  "  contemptuous  behav- 
ior "  the  magistrates  often  referred  to  the 
Quaker's  custom  of  wearing  the  hat,  to  his 
use  of  the  singular  number  in  addressing 
one  person  only,  and  to  his  refusal  to  take 
the  oath.  These  customs  were  not  aimed 
at  authority,  nor  were  they  subversive  of 
social  order,  but,  as  the  Puritans  well  knew, 
they  were  matters  of  conscience.  It  was, 
and  is,  manifestly  absurd  to  pretend  that 
while  the  Friends  wore  hats  in  their  own 
assemblies  and  addressed  each  other  in  the 
plain  language,  they  wore  the  same  hats 
and  used  the  same  style  of  speech,  in  the 
presence  of  government  officers  and  church 
ministers,  as  a  mark  of  their  contempt. 

Too  much  of  special  pleading,  reckless 
writing,  and  rhetoric,  have  been  expended 
on  this  subject.  It  is  time  now  for  the 
presentation  of  an  impartial  statement  of 
the  truth,  unadorned  by  efforts  of  the  im- 
agination. We  need  a  well  considered 
judgment  based  upon  the  plain  facts.  The 
tenor  of  such  judgment  is  beyond  question. 


110  THE  QUAKER  INVASION 

It  will  be  found  that  "  most "  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Quakei's  were  not  ignorant  and 
lawless,  nor  seditious  and  pestering,  nor 
rancorous  and  indecent,  but  that  they  were 
fully  as  intelligent  and  well-informed,  often 
more  enlightened,  and,  on  the  whole,  quite 
as  well  behaved  and  as  guiltless  of  social 
indecorum  as  the  Puritans  themselves. 

A  fair  examination  can  result  only  in  a 
complete  overthrow  of  the  theory  that  they 
were  the  aggressors,  and  "  wantonly  ini- 
tiated the  strife,"  and  that  by  their  wild 
misdeeds  the  Puritans  were  "  beyond  meas- 
ure provoked  and  goaded  to  the  course 
which  they  pursued."  It  will  be  seen  that 
the  Quakers,  not  the  Puritans,  were  goaded 
and  tormented,  and  that  it  is  a  reversal  of 
the  truth  to  put  it  otherwise.  Another 
cause  for  Puritan  cruelty  must  be  discov- 
ered. We  have  yet  to  learn  what  Quaker 
offense  so  frenzied  Bellingham  as  to  drive 
him  to  inflict  such  barbarous  treatment 
upon  Ann  Austin  and  Mary  Fisher,  im- 
mediately upon  their  arrival  here,  in  the 
early  part  of  1656;  what  the  outrage  that 
*"■  goaded  "  Governor  Endicott  into  forward- 
ing his  letter  from  Salem,  saying,  had  he 
been  at  home,  be  "  would  have  had  them 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  Ill 

well  whipped " ;  what  the  nature  of  the 
offenses  that  led  to  the  imprisonment  and 
treatment  as  criminals  of  Christopher  Hol- 
der, Thomas  Thirstone,  William  Brend, 
John  Copeland,  Mary  Prince,  Sarah  Gib- 
bons, Mary  Whitehead,  Dorothy  Waugh, 
and  Richard  Smith,  when  they  first  came 
here,  in  1656.  The  list  of  objurgations 
and  indecencies  that,  in  October,  1656, 
"  stung  and  goaded  "  the  Puritans  into 
passing  the  first  act  in  the  series  of  cruel 
legislation  is  yet  to  be  given.  The  story  of 
Nicholas  Upsall  should  follow  this  recital. 
The  checkered  career  of  this  brave  old  man 
will  serve  to  indicate  the  "  seditious  and 
rancorous  "  character  of  the  Quakers. 

Mary  Dyer  and  Anne  Burden  were  the 
first  Quaker  visitors  who  arrived  after  the 
passage  of  the  law  of  1656.  Mary  Dyer's 
career,  and  especially  her  bearing  when  she 
faced  death  on  Boston  Common,  will  ilkis- 
trate  the  "  dogged  pertinacity  "  with  which 
she  persecuted  her  reluctant  executioners. 
Endicott,  it  is  said,  gave  her  an  opportunity 
to  save  her  life  by  lying,  which,  however, 
she  was  too  obstinate  to  do.  This  pure,  in- 
telligent, and  devoted  woman  is  pilloried  in 
history  ^  as  one  "  of  the  most  insufferable 

1  Memorial  History  of  Boston,  vol.  i.  p.  1G8. 


112  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

tormentors  "  of  Boston.  Of  what  insuffera- 
ble acts  was  she  guilty  ?  What  is  the  evi- 
dence upon  which  this  description  of  her  is 
based  ?  The  story  of  her  companion  is  not 
so  widely  known.  It  is  interesting  as  a  bit 
of  evidence  to  show  how  the  authorities 
were  made  desperate  by  the  intrusiveness  of 
Quakers. 

Anne  Burden  was  not  a  preacher.  She 
came  here  to  settle  the  estate  of  her  de- 
ceased husband.  Bellingham,  before  whom 
she  was  arraigned,  could  find  no  fault  in 
her,  but  said  "  she  was  a  plain  Quaker  and 
must  abide  the  law."  Though  ill  at  the 
time,  she  was  thrust  into  gaol  where  she 
was  detained  about  three  months.  During 
her  imprisonment  some  tender-hearted  peo- 
ple collected  debts  for  her  to  the  value  of 
thirty  pounds.  Finally,  she  was  shipped 
direct  to  England.  Her  request  to  be  al- 
lowed to  go  to  Barbadoes,  as  her  goods 
would  bring  a  better  price  there,  was  re- 
fused. Her  property  was  assessed  fourteen 
shillings  to  satisfy  the  gaoler's  fee,  and 
seven  shillings  for  boat  hire  to  carry  her  to 
the  ship  —  for  though  the  captain  offered  to 
carry  her  in  his  own  skiff,  witliout  charge, 
she  was  compelled  to  go  with  the  hangman^ 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  113 

who,  at  her  expense,  had  provided  one. 
She  was  further  robbed  of  goods  to  the 
vahie  of  six  pounds  ten  shillings,  for  her 
passage,  of  which  the  captain  never  received 
a  shilling.  She,  however,  on  reaching  Lon- 
don, though  under  no  obligation  to  do  so, 
paid  him  in  full.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
when  the  Puritan  version  of  this  "  intru- 
sive "  Quaker's  story  is  told,  we  shall  learn 
what  became  of  the  six  pounds  ten  shillings, 
of  which  she  was  distrained,  though  it  may- 
be that  in  the  "  frenzy "  of  the  moment, 
produced  by  her  "  pestering  and  indecent " 
conduct,  such  trifles  were  overlooked.  Let 
some  one  name,  if  he  can,  a  single  act  of 
this  woman  or  a  single  act  of  any  one  of  the 
few  Quakers  who  preceded  her,  that  justi- 
fies or  palliates  the  treatment  she  received. 
Another  class  of  Quaker  intruders  has  its 
place  in  our  early  history.  Their  "  lawless 
fanaticism,"  as  indicated  by  the  evidence 
about  to  be  given,  may  help  to  explain  how 
the  magistrates  were  beyond  endurance  pro- 
voked by  these  aggressors  and  "  wanton 
initiators  "  of  strife.  It  appears  that  James 
Cudworth,  a  magistrate  of  New  Plymouth 
and  a  captain,  was  left  off  the  bench  and 
lost  his  captaincy,  because  he  had  enter- 


114  THE    QUAKER  INVASION'  , 

tained  some  Quakers  at  his  house  in  order 
to  become  better  acquainted  with  tlieir  prin- 
ciples, which,  however,  he  never  adopted. 
He  says,  "  the  Quakers  and  I  cannot  close 
in  divers  things,  and  so  I  signified  to  the 
court  I  was  no  Quaker,  ...  but  as  I  was 
no  Quaker,  so  I  would  be  no  persecutor." 
This  Puritan  Cudworth  wrote  a  letter,  dated 
in  the  10th  month,  1658,  graphically  de- 
scribing the  condition  of  affaii's  in  both 
colonies,  in  which  he  says  of  the  Quakers, 
"  They  have  many  meetings  and  many  ad- 
herents ;  almost  the  whole  town  of  Sand- 
wich is  adhering  towards  them.  .  .  .  The 
Sandwich  men  may  not  go  to  the  Bay,  lest 
they  be  taken  up  for  Quakers  ;  W.  New- 
land  was  there  about  his  occasions,  some 
ten  days  since,  and  they  put  him  in  prison 
twenty-four  hours,  and  sent  for  divers  to 
witness  against  him,  but  they  had  not  proof 
enough  to  make  him  a  Quaker,  which,  if 
they  had,  he  should  have  been  -  whipped  ; 
nay,  they  may  not  go  about  their  occasions 
in  other  towns  of  our  colony,  but  warrants 
lie  in  ambush  to  apprehend  and  bring  them 
before  a  magistrate  to  give  an  account  of 
their  business.  Some  of  the  Quakers  in 
Rhode  Island  came  to  bring  them  goods,  to 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  115 

trade  with  tliem,  and  that  for  far  reasona- 
bler  terms  than  the  professing  and  oppress- 
ing merchants  of  the  country,  but  that  will 
not  be  suffered."  Referring  to  the  imita- 
tion of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  magistrates 
by  the  Plymouth  authorities,  in  their  perse- 
cution of  Quakers,  he  significantly  saj's, 
"  and  now  Plymouth-saddle  is  on  the  Bay 
horse."  This  remarkable  letter^  is  too  long 
for  reproduction  here,  but  any  detailed  re- 
cital of  evidence  would  be  incomplete  with- 
out it.  It  is  a  curious  commentary  upon 
the  "  aimless  spirit  of  annoyance  "  that  led 
many  of  the  "  pestering  and  intrusive " 
Quaker  visitors  to  the  Bay.  The  letter 
is  also  of  collateral  value  here,  because  it 
suggests  the  correction  of  a  very  serious 
error  which  occurs  in  an  essay  by  Judge 
William  Brigham,  published  by  the  Massa- 
chusetts Historical  Society.  Judge  Brig- 
ham  asserts,  with  evident  satisfaction,  that 
in  New  Plymouth  colony  there  was  a  "  law 
against  Quaker  Ranters,  but  no  Quaker  had 
a  hair  of  his  head  hurt."  Judicially  speak- 
ing, it  may  be  true  that  the  Quaker  hair 
was  not  pulled  in  Plymouth  as  it  was  in 
Boston,  but  Judge  Brigham  ought  to  have 

1  See  Appendix,  pp.  1G2-172. 


116  THE   QUAKER  INVASION 

known,  and  might  easily  have  learned,  that 
the  Plymouth  authorities,  though  less  harsh 
and  vindictive  than  their  neighbors,  were 
nevertheless  adepts  in  the  business  of  scourg- 
ing Quakers.  What  ai'e  we  to  expect  fi-om 
untrained  men,  when  a  distinguished  mem- 
ber oi  the  bar  is  so  heedless  in  his  state- 
ments ? 

It  is  by  no  means  necessary  to  produce 
the  entire  record  in  order  to  confirm  the 
views  expressed,  or  the  positions  taken  here, 
in  opposition  to  opinions  and  theories  that 
prevail  in  the  popular  mind  ;  but  the  Pu- 
ritan apologist  who  cares  to  revise  his  judg- 
ment should  read  the  whole  of  it.  In  his 
review  of  1658  he  will  not  overlook  the 
glass  bottle  feat  of  Sarah  Gibbons  and  Doro- 
thy Waugh,  but  when  he  tires  of  this  scene, 
let  him  leave  the  church  and  watch  for  a 
moment  the  threefold  knotted  whip  as  the 
lash  descends  upon  the  back  of  Hored  Gard- 
ner. If  he  will  listen  closely,  he  will  hear 
this  Quaker  woman's  voice,  as  it  ascends  to 
Heaven,  pleading  for  forgiveness  of  the  per- 
secutors.^ 

1  See  Appendix,  pp.  172,  173. 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  117 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    CAUSE    OF    THE    WAR    AND    ITS    RESULTS. 

Dr.  Ellis  says  "  our  Fathers  cared  little, 
if  at  all,  for  the  Quaker  theology.  They 
did  not  get  so  far  as  that  in  dealing  with 
them."  On  the  contrary,  their  abhorrence 
of  the  religious  opinions  or  belief  of  the 
Friends  was  the  real  cause  of  the  persecu- 
tion. 

The  cardinal  principles  and  leading  tenets 
of  Quakerism  have  been  detailed  in  a  pre- 
ceding chapter,  and  therefore  only  brief  men- 
tion of  them  is  necessary  here.  In  common 
with  the  Puritans,  the  Quakers  believed  in 
the  divinity  of  Jesus,  the  Christian  atone- 
ment, a  future  life  either  in  heaven  or  hell, 
and  the  inspiration  of  the  Bible.  In  com- 
mon with  the  Puritans,  they  condemned  as 
idolatrous  the  ceremonial  service  of  the 
Established  Church,  but  they  also  denied 
the  efficacy  of  ordination,  baptism,  formal 
prayer,  and  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
supper.     They  sought  to  restore  the  spirit- 


118  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

uality  and  simplicity  of  primitive  Christian- 
it3\  Their  reliance  npon  what  they  called 
the  Inward  Light,  as  a  sufficient  guide  in 
matters  of  I'eligion,  has  alwaj^s  distinguished 
them  from  all  other  religious  sects.  This 
Inward  Light  may  be  briefly  explained  as 
follows  :  God  is  an  indwelling  Spirit,  and 
Humanity  is  His  holy  temple.  His  law  is 
written  upon  the  hearts  of  all  men,  and 
obedience  to  it  will  lead  them  into  all  truth, 
so  far  as  religious  truths  are  revealed  to 
men.  Through  the  operation  of  this  law 
the  soul  of  man  is  accessible  to  his  Creator. 
It  is  the  rule  of  life  to  which  every  one  must 
subject  himself,  and  out  of  which  duty  is 
evolved. 

The  Quakers  were  further  distinguished 
from  other  sects  by  their  determined  cham- 
pionship of  religious  freedom.  With  other 
men  religious  liberty  was  a  matter  of  opin- 
ion and  political  policy,  but  in  the  Quaker 
philosophy  it  stood  as  a  divine  principle  and 
an  inalienable  birthright. 

New  England  Puritans  denounced  the 
Quaker  Light  as  an  ignis  fatuus,  and  a 
"  stinking  vapor  from  hell."  For  spirit- 
ual and  moral  guidance  they  relied  solely 
upon  the  revealed  law  as  contained  within 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  119 

the  limits  of  the  Bible,  and  especially  tlie 
Old  Testament,  and,  we  might  add,  they 
rested  their  ecclesiastical,  civil,  and  penal 
legislation  upon  the  same  authority.  They 
attempted  to  build  up  a  theocratic  govern- 
ment. Leaving  their  native  homes  to  es- 
cape persecution,  they  established  them- 
selves here,  only  to  deny  religious  liberty  to 
all  comers.  Toleration  was  only  second  to 
heresy  in  their  list  of  pernicious  errors.  If 
we  fully  realize  the  differences  that  sepa- 
rated them  from  the  Quakers,  we  shall  see 
that  a  conflict  between  the  two  was  inevita- 
ble. Resistance  to  religious  tyranny  was 
an  imperative  and  sacred  duty  with  the 
Quaker.  Extermination  of  heresy  and  per- 
secution of  non-conformists  were  essential 
articles  in  the  creed  of  the  Puritans.  Let 
us  review  the  evidence. 

The  first  reference  to  Quakers  in  the 
colonial  records  speaks  of  their  "abounding 
errors."  The  first  two  Quakers  arrive  and 
are  found  to  hold  "  very  dangerous  hereti- 
cal and  blasphemous  opinions."  They  are 
closely  confined  until  they  can  be  sent  away 
in  order  "  to  prevent  the  spread  of  their 
corrupt  opinions."  The  first  count  in  the 
indictment   embodied   in  the  preamble   of 


120  THE   QUAKER  INVASION 

the  first  law  aimed  at  Quakers  is  stated  in 
the  emphatic  words,  "cursed  heretics,"  and, 
as  has  been  shown,  succeeding  laws  are 
aflame  with  charges  of  heresy  and  blas- 
phemy. In  October,  1658,  John  Norton 
was  employed  by  the  Court  to  write  an  ex- 
posure and  refutation  of  Quaker  errors. 
The  order  reads,  "Whereas  this  Court,  well 
understanding  the  dangerous  events  of  the 
doctrines  and  practices  of  the  Quakers,  hath 
by  law  endeavored  to  prevent  the  same,  but 
finding  that  some  of  them  do  dispense  their 
papers,  so  expressing  themselves  therein  as 
that  they  uicxy  deceive  divers  of  weak  capac- 
ities, and  so  draw  them  in  to  favor  their 
opinions  and  ways, —  now,  for  the  further 
prevention  of  infection,  and  guiding  of  peo- 
ple in  the  truth,  in  reference  to  such  opin- 
ions, heresies,  or  blasphemies  by  them  ex- 
pressed in  their  books,  letters,  or  b}^  words 
openly  held  forth  by  some  of  them,  the  Court 
judgeth  meet  that  there  be  a  writing  or  dec- 
laration drawn  up,  and  forthwith  printed," 
etc.  In  November,  1659,  the  Court,  "by 
the  honored  Governor,"  thanked  Mr.  Nor- 
ton "  for  his  great  pains  and  worthy  labors 
in  the  tractate  he  drew  up,  and  by  order  of 
this  Court  hath  been  printed,  wherein  the 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  121 

dangerous  errors  of  the  Quakers  is  fully  re- 
futed and  discovered,  and  to  acquaint  him 
that  this  Court  hath  given  him  five  hundred 
acres  of  land  .  .  .  as  a  small  recompense  for 
his  pains  therein." 

When  this  same  Christian  minister,  John 
Norton,  volunteered  to  defend  the  inhuman 
gaoler  who  treated  William  Brend  with 
such  horrible  barbarity,  it  was  not  because 
Brend  was  guilty  of  any  breach  of  the  civil 
law,  but  because  "  he  endeavored  to  beat 
our  Gospel  ordinances  black  and  blue." 
In  October,  1658,  a  petition  addressed  to 
the  Court,  asking  for  additional  legislation 
against  the  Quakers,  complains  of  "  their 
denial  of  the  Trinity,  ...  of  the  person  of 
Christ,  ...  of  the  Scriptures  as  a  rule  of 
life."  ^  In  December,  1660,  in  an  address 
sent  by  the  General  Court  to  King  Charles 
II.,  the  Quakers  were  complained  of  as 
"  open  and  capital  blasphemers,  open  se- 
ducers from  the  glorious  Trinity,  the  soul's 
Christ,  our  Lord  Jesus,  the  blessed  gospel, 
and  from  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  the  rule  of 
life,"  etc. 

In  the  file  of  unpublished  manuscript  in 
the  State-house,  Boston,  there   are   papers 

1  See  Appendix,  p.  154. 


122  THE   QUAKER  INVASION. 

indexed,  "  Minutes  of  the  Magistrates,'*' 
dated  1659-60,  and  headed,  "The  Examina- 
tion of  Quakers  at  y'^  Court  of  Assistants  in 
Boston."  1  These  papers  do  not  indicate 
the  specific  charges  upon  which  the  Quakers 
were  arrested,  but  are  evidently  memoranda 
made  during  the  progress  of  the  trials. 
In  this  collection  there  arc  forty  entries. 
Three  of  them  are  too  brief  and  indefinite 
to  indicate  their  subjects  ;  three  state  that 
some  of  the  prisoners  entered  court  with 
their  hats  on ;  one  states  that  two  of  them 
disturbed  the  court  and  wei'e  carried  out 
by  the  gaoler  ;  one  refers  to  a  statement 
made  by  some  one  else,  that  there  was 
a  woman  at  Salem,  "  Consader  Southwick," 
who  said  she  was  greater  than  Moses,  for 
she  had  seen  God  oftener  than  he  had. 
(This  was,  no  doubt,  a  slander.)  Of  the 
others,  six  mention  the  protests  of  the  pris- 
oners against  the  "  wicked  law,"  and  ttven- 
ty-six  refer  to  the  religious  opinions  ex- 
pressed b}^,  and,  it  is  presumable,  di-awn 
from  them  in  the  process  of  examination. 

In  view  of  this  evidence  and  other  facts 
heretofore  narrated,  one  is  forced  to  the  con- 
clusion that  our  fathers  were  not  only  not 
1  See  Appendix,  pp.  ]  57-161 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  123 

indifferent  to  the  theology,  or  what  they 
called  the  heresy,  of  the  Quakers,  but  that 
the  policy  of  persecution  which  they  inaug- 
urated immediately  upon  the  advent  of 
the  despised  and  hated  sect  is  directly 
chargeable  to  their  detestation  of  the  al- 
leged heresy,  and  to  their  fear  of  its  bale- 
ful influence  upon  the  colony.  It  is  no  ex- 
aggeration to  assert  that  the  Quakers  were 
dealt  with  almost  exclusively  on  the  score 
of  their  religious  opinions. 

It  has  been  said  that  a  realization  of  the 
radical  differences  between  the  Friends  and 
Puritans  will  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
conflict  was  inevitable,  but  to  appreciate 
fully  the  nature  of  that  conflict,  it  is  impor- 
tant to  understand  their  agreements.  The 
coming,  of  the  Quakers  into  Massachusetts, 
as  the  subject  is  popularly  treated,  suggests 
the  descent  of  a  horde  of  semi-barbarians 
with  pagan  customs,  grotesque  manners,  and 
lawless  habits,  upon  a  God-fearing,  sober, 
and  law-abiding  community.  This  miscon- 
ception is  fatal  to  a  proper  understanding  of 
our  early  history.  Quakerism,  historically 
defined,  was  an  outgrowth  of  Puritanism. 
Its  ranks  were  recruited  from  the  English 
yeomanry.      Some  of  the  Friends,  before 


124  THE   QUAKER  INVASION 

their  conversion  to  peace  principles,  Bad 
served  in  the  armies  of  Cromwell,  and  most 
of  thera  had  been  attached  to  one  or  the 
other  of  the  non  -  conformist  or  Puritan 
churches.  This  is  especially  true  of  the 
New  England  Quakers.  They  were  Eng- 
lishmen by  birth  and  blood,  and  Puritan 
by  education.  While  adopting  the  distinc- 
tive j)rinciples  of  Quakerism,  they  retained 
the  characteristics  that  distinguished  the 
Puritan  from  the  Cavalier.  The  martyrs, 
Robinson,  Stevenson,  and  Leddra,  who,  by 
the  decree  of  Endicott,  Bellingham,  and 
Norton,  were  hanged  on  Boston  Common, 
rivaled  their  executioners  in  their  hostility 
to  the  Established  Church  and  in  their  vir- 
tuous horror  of  the  profligacy  and  licen- 
tiousness of  the  English  court.  The  Qua- 
ker testimonies,  as  enumerated  in  the  Book 
of  Discipline,  find  their  counterpart  in  the 
sumptuary  laws  that  grace  the  statute  book 
of   the    Massachusetts    colony.^      The    two 

1  Referring  to  these  laws  and  to  the  prevailing  dress  of  the 
colonists,  Mr.  H.  E.  Scudder  well  says  that  "the  Puritans 
.  .  .  vainly  sought  for  a  correspondence  between  the  outer 
man  and  the  inner  sanctified  spirit."  This  is  equally  true  of 
the  Quakers,  but  the  same  writer  classifies  them  a-i  a  people 
"who  wished  to  strip  off  all  obstructions  to  the  exhibition  of 
Nature."    It  would  be  useless  to  attempt  to  characterize  such 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  125 

parties  held  in  common  a  living  faith  in  the 
wisdom  and  power  of  simplicity,  sobriety, 
and  godliness,  combined  with  more  or  less 
enlightened  theories  of  religious  and  social 
equality  and  intellectual  liberty.  The  in- 
terpretation of  the  moral  law  by  either 
party  was  equally  destructive  to  social  sin, 
and  equally  conducive  to  social  welfare. 
All  Puritans  were  not  Quakers,  but  all  Qua- 
kers were  Puritans.  Strong  sympathies 
and  similarities  intensified  the  heat  of  the 
conflict.  Family  feuds  are  proverbially 
bitter,  and  theirs  was  a  family  quarrel. 
When  Greek  met  Greek,  then  came  the  tug 
of  war.  Fortunately  the  methods  of  war- 
fare were  radically  different.  The  one  re- 
sorted to  coercion  and  the  tortures  of  the  In- 
quisition to  enforce  an  iron  will,  while  the 
other  relied  solely  upon  passive  but  inflexi- 
ble resistance,  patient  endurance,  aggressive 
argument,  exhortation,  and  appeals  to  con- 
science. 

It  is  often  urged  that  the  Puritan  rulers 
frequently  "  disclaimed  power  over  tlie  faith 
and  consciences  of  others,"  ^  and  that  their 

writing.    It  is  easier  to  believe  it  was  a  slip  of  the  pen,  and,  if 
so,  one  that  botli  Mr.  Scudder  and  the  editor  of  the  Memorial 
History  of  Bostim  will  always  regret.     See  vol.  i.  p.  484. 
*  Massachusetts  and  its  Juirly  History,  p.  437. 


126  THE    QUAKER   INVASION 

futile  effort  to  keep  the  Quakers  from  en- 
tering or  residing  in  the  colony  was  only  a 
defense  against  the  "  confusion  and  anarchy  " 
that  would  surely  follow  if  they  were  tol- 
erated here.  This  apology  is  as  untenable 
as  the  others  which  have  been  examined. 
A  disclaimer,  to  be  of  value,  must  be  sus- 
tained by  corresponding  action,  and  the 
founders  abundantly  disproved  the  sincerity 
of  these  professions.  Their  treatment  of 
adherents  to  the  Established  Church  of 
England  may  be  in  part  accounted  for  by 
the  fear  of  the  establishment  of  Episcopacy 
here  as  a  political  power,  under  the  auspices 
of  the  English  government,  but  there  is  no 
such  excuse  for  their  treatment  of  Baptists 
and  Quakers.  They  were  resolved,  at  all 
hazards,  to  control  the  faith  and  consciences 
of  the  whole  colony.  We  have  seen  that 
they  were  unremitting  in  their  efforts  "  to 
prevent  the  spread  of  corrupt  opinions." 
Quaker  books  were  prohibited,  men  were 
disfranchised  for  harboring  Friends,  Quaker 
meetings  were  assaulted  and  dispersed,  and 
could  be  attended  only  at  the  risk  of  fine 
and  imprisonment.  Non-attendance  at  the 
regular  church,  on  the  "  Lord's  day  "  was  a 
criminal  offense.     The  county  court  records 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS  127 

show  that  at  Ipswich  and  Salem  alone, 
during  the  four  years  from  1658  to  1661  in- 
clusive, there  were  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  convictions  for  attending  Quaker  meet- 
ings and  absence  from  public  worship. 
As  there  were  but  two  hundred  and  eight 
Sabbaths  in  the  four  years,  the  number  of 
convictions  seems  sufficiently  great,  but,  had 
there  been  a  separate  conviction  for  each 
offense,  it  would  be  very  much  greater. 
The  officials  would  allow  their  victims  to 
live  unmolested  for  several  consecutive 
weeks,  and  would  then  swoop  down  upon 
them.  The  following  entries  illustrate  their 
methods. 

County  Court,  Salem,  20*^  5""^  1658.  — 
"  Provided  Sothwick  convicted  of  her  being 
frequently  absent  from  publike  worship  on 
the  Lord's  day  &  alsoe  is  sensured  to  pay 
20*  for  being  present  at  two  meetings  of 
Quakers  and  alsoe  is  to  be  sett  by  the  feet 
in  the  stockes  one  hower  for  chargeing  the 
court  to  be  persecutors  —  to  pay  5*  costs 
court." 

"  Nicholas  Phelps  is  sensured  by  tliis 
court  to  pay  40s  to  the  treasurer  of  this 
county  for  defending  a  quakers  meeting  & 
allsoe  to  be  sent  to  the  house  of  correction 


128  THE   QUAKER   INVASION 

at  Ipswich  for  owning  himselfe  to  be  a 
quaker  &  there  to  continue  this  Courts 
pleasure :    to   pay  costs   30«." 

"30:  Q'"^  1658.  The  wife  of  George 
Gardner  is  fined  by  this  Court  40^  for  8 
dayes  absence  from  y®  publique  worship  of 
God,  the  Lord's  daies." 

The  iron  rule  of  conformity  was  nowhere 
more  savagely  enforced  than  in  Massachu- 
setts. When  at  last  Quaker  fidelity  to  the 
cause  of  religious  liberty  overcame  the  al- 
most indomitable  will  of  the  rulers  and 
achieved  a  lasting  triumph  over  despotic 
bigotry,  toleration  succeeded  persecution 
with  beneficent  results.  All  dread,  real  or 
pretended,  of  violence  and  disoi'der,  van- 
ished, and  the  Quakers  were  recognized  as 
lav7- abiding  citizens,  upright,  intelligent, 
peaceable,  and  useful  members  of  society. 

We  are  constantly  reminded  that  in  order 
to  judge  the  policy  and  acts  of  the  Puritans 
fairly  we  must  remember  that  the  colony 
was  settled  during  the  first  half  of  the  sev- 
enteenth, and  not  the  last  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Only  superficial  criticism 
will  apply  the  tests  of  our  pi*esent  civiliza- 
tion to  events  that  occurred  two  hundred 
and  twenty  years  ago.     That  which  would 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  129 

be  condemned  in  Boston  to-day  might  have 
been  applauded  in  Boston  in  1660.  These 
suggestions  are  pertinent,  but  are  they  not 
equally  so  when  the  Quakers  are  called  to 
judgment?  Let  the  persecutor  and  his  vic- 
tim stand  or  fall  by  the  same  rules  of  his- 
torical criticism.  One  rejaresentative  writer  ^ 
draws  a  pleasant  pict:ire  of  the  peaceable, 
refined,  and  genial  Quaker  whom  one  may 
meet  at  any  time  in  our  streets  and  public 
assemblies,  and  to  whom  the  epithet  "  sly  " 
is  the  harshest  that  can  be  applied.  This 
exemplary  citizen,  he  assures  the  reader,  is 
a  very  different  person  from  the  Quaker 
with  whom  the  Puritans  had  to  deal.  This 
ingenious  appeal  would  be  more  just  had  it 
been  supplemented  by  the  further  reminder 
that  the  liberal,  courteous,  and  progressive 
descendants  from  Puritan  stock  seen  in  our 
business  marts,  court-rooms,  and  pulpits, 
and  to  whom  the  epithet  "  smart  Yankee  " 
is  the  most  severe  we  can  apply,  is  a  very 
different  man  from  the  Puritan  with  whom 
the  early  Quakers  dealt.  The  contrast  be- 
tween Elizabeth  Hooten  and  Lucretia  Mott 
is  far  less  marked  than  the  contrast  be- 
tween Edmund  Batter  and  Nathaniel  Very, 

1  Dr.  Ellis. 
9 


130  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

tlie  present  treasurer  of  the  town  of  Salem. 
Our  Buff  urns,  Shattucks,  and  South  wicks 
are  not  exact  copies  of  their  Quaker  ances- 
tors who  bore  these  names,  and  we  shall  all 
agree  that  our  well-known  Endicotts,  Nor- 
tons,  and  Higginsons  are  a  vast  improve- 
ment upon  their  Puritan  forefathers. 

The  age  of  Puritanism  was  an  age  of  re- 
ligious bigotry,  intolerance,  and  persecution, 
relieved,  however,  by  the  liberal  teaching  of 
Milton  and  many  other  enlightened  men  of 
genius  and  talent.  In  New  England,  Rhode 
Island  was  the  silver  lining  to  the  dark  cloud 
that  overhung  Massachusetts.  The  liberal 
principles  and  policy  of  Williams,  Arnold, 
and  the  Quakers,  Coddington  and  Easton, 
put  to  shame  the  rulers  of  this  colony.  The 
average  New  England  Puritan  was  far  be- 
hind contemporary  English  reformers,  but 
the  rulers  here  were  behind  the  average 
New  England  Puritan.  This  was  partly 
due  to  the  system  of  government  by  which 
all  citizens  except  church  -  members  were 
disfranchised.  The  magistrates  and  min- 
isters were  reactionists,  and  were  not  sus- 
tained even  by  their  own  followers.  Their 
mission  here,  accepting  their  own  statement 
as  to  what  it  was,  met  with  a  richly  de- 


OF  MASSACHUSETTS.  131 

served  fate.  It  was  almost  a  complete  fail- 
ure. Their  plan  of  government  was  re- 
pudiated and  was  succeeded  by  wiser  polit- 
ical arrangements  and  more  humane  laws. 
Their  religion,  though  it  long  retained  its 
hold  in  theory,  was  displaced  by  one  less 
bigoted  and  superstitious.  It  is  now  a  thing 
of  the  past,  a  mere  tradition,  an  antiquated 
curiosit3\ 

The  early  Quakers,  or  some  of  them,  in 
common  with  the  Puritans,  may  illustrate 
some  of  the  least  attractive  characteristics 
of  their  time ;  but  they  were  abreast,  if  not 
in  advance,  of  the  foremost  advocates  of  re- 
ligious and  civil  freedom.  They  were  more 
than  advocates ;  they  were  the  pioneers  who 
by  their  heroic  fortitude,  patient  suffering, 
and  persistent  devotion  rescued  the  old 
Bay  colony  from  the  jaws  of  the  certain 
death  to  which  the  narrow  and  mistaken 
policy  of  the  bigoted  and  sometimes  insin- 
cere founders  had  doomed  it.  They  forced 
them  to  abandon  pretentious  claims,  to  ad- 
mit strangers  without  insulting  them,  to  tol- 
erate religious  differences,  and  to  incorpo- 
rate into  their  legislation  the  spirit  of  liberty 
which  is  now  the  life-blood  of  our  institu- 
tions.   The  religion  of  the  society  of  Friends 


132  THE    QUAKER  INVASION 

is  still  an  active  force,  having  its  full  share 
of  influence  upon  our  civilization.  The  vital 
principle  —  "The  Inward  Light" — scoffed 
at  and  denounced  by  the  Puritans  as  a  de- 
lirium, is  recognized  as  a  profound  spiritual 
truth  by  sages  and  philosophers. 


APPENDIX. 


COLONIAL  LAWS  FOR  THE  SUPPRESSION  OF 
QUAKERS.    MASS.  RECORDS,  VOL.  IV. 

Att  a  Generall  Court,  held  at  Boston  14,  of  Octo- 
ber, 1656. 

Whereas  there  is  a  cursed  sect  of  htereticks 
lately  risen  vp  in  the  world,  w"''  are  coiEonly 
called  Quakers,  who  take  vppon  them  to  be  ime- 
diately  sent  of  God  and  infallibly  asisted  by  the 
spirit  to  speake  &  write  blasphemouth  opinions, 
despising  gouernmeut  &  the  order  of  God  in 
church  &  comonwealth,  speaking  evill  of  dig- 
nitjes,  reproaching  and  revjling  magistrates  and 
ministers,  seeking  to  turne  the  people  from  the 
faith,  &  gajne  proseljtes  to  theire  pernicious 
wajes,  this  Court,  taking  into  serious  considera- 
tion the  p'mises,  and  to  prevent  the  like  mis- 
chiefe  as  by  theire  meanes  is  wrought  in  our 
native  land,  doth  hereby  order,  and  by  the  au- 
thoritje  of  this  Court  be  it  ordered  and  enacted, 
that  what  master  or  coiBander  of  any  ship,  barke, 
pinnace,  catch,  or  of  any  other  vessell  that  shall 
henceforth  bring  into  any  harbor,  creeke,  or 
coue  w'4u  this  jurisdiccon  any  knoune   Quaker 


134  APPENDIX. 

or  Quakers,  or  any  other  blasphemous  ha^reticks, 
as  aforesaid,  shall  pay,  or  cawse  to  be  pajd,  the 
fine  of  one  hundred  pounds  to  the  Tresurer  of 
the  countrje,  except  it  appeare  that  he  wanted 
true  knowledg  or  information  of  theire  being 
such ;  and  in  that  case  he  hath  libertje  to  cleare 
himself  by  his  oath  when  sufficijent  proofe  to 
the  contrary  is  wanting,  and  for  default  of  pay- 
ment, or  good  securitje  for  it,  shall  be  comitted 
to  jjrison,  &  there  to  contjnew  till  the  sajd 
some  be  sattisfied  to  the  Tresurer  as  aforesajd ; 
and  the  comauder  of  any  such  ship  or  vessell  that 
shall  bring  them  (being  legally  convicted)  shall 
giue  in  sufficijent  securitje  to  the  Goiino'',  or 
any  one  or  more  of  the  magistrates  who  haue 
power  to  determine  the  same,  to  carry  them 
backe  to  the  place  whence  he  brought  them  ; 
and,  on  his  refusall  so  to  doe,  the  Gouerno'",  or 
one  or  more  of  the  magistrates,  are  hereby  im- 
powered  to  issue  out  his  or  theire  warrants  to 
coiSitt  such  master  or  comauder  to  prison,  there 
to  continew  till  he  shall  give  in  sufficijent  secu- 
ritje to  the  content  of  the  Gouerno''  or  any  of 
the  magistrates  as  aforesajd.  And  it  is  hereby 
further  ordered  &  enacted,  that  what  Quaker 
soeuer  shall  arive  in  this  countrje  from  forraigne 
parts,  or  come  into  this  jurisdiccbn  from  any 
parts  adjacent,  shall  be  forthwith  comitted  to  the 
house  of  correction,  and  at  theire  entrance  to  be 
seuerely  whipt,  and  by  the  master  thereof  to  be 
kept  constantly  to  worke,  &  none  suffered  to 
converse  or  speak  w"'  them  during  the  tjme  of 


APPENDIX.  135 

theire  imprisonment,  w*^^^  shall  be  no  longer  than 
necessitje  requireth.  And  further,  it  is  ordered, 
if  any  pson  shall  knowingly  import  into  any 
harbor  of  this  jurisdiccon  any  Quakers  bookes 
or  writings  concerning  theire  diuilish  opinions, 
shall  pay  for  euery  such  booke  or  writting,  being 
legally  prooued  against  him  or  tliem,  the  some 
of  five  pounds  ;  and  whosoeuer  shall  disperse  or 
conceale  any  such  booke  or  writing,  and  it  be 
found  w'^  him  or  her,  or  in  his  or  her  howse, 
and  sliall  not  imediately  deliuer  in  the  same  to 
the  next  magistrate,  shall  forfeite  and  pay  five 
pounds  for  the  dispersing  or  concealeing  of  euery 
such  booke  or  writing. 

And  it  is  hereby  further  enacted,  that  if  any 
person  w"'in  this  colonje  shall  take  vppon  them 
to  defend  the  htEretticall  opinions  of  the  sajd 
Quakers,  or  any  of  theire  bookes  or  papers  as 
aforesajd,  ex  annimo,  if  legally  prooved,  shall 
be  fined  for  the  first  tjme  forty  shillings ;  if  they 
shall  persist  in  the  same  and  shall  so  againe  de- 
fend it,  the  second  tjme  fower  pounds;  if  still, 
notw^'^standing,  they  shall  againd  so  defend  & 
maintajne  the  sajd  Quakers  hjeretticall  opinions, 
they  shall  be  comitted  to  the  howse  of  correc- 
tion till  there  be  conveujeiit  passage  for  them  to 
be  sent  out  of  the  land,  being  sentenced  by  the 
Court  of  Asistants  to  banishment.  Lastly  it  is 
heereby  ordered,  that  what  pson  or  persons 
soeuer  shall  revile  the  office  or  pson  of  magis- 
trates or  ministers,  as  is  usuall  with  the  Quakers, 
such  person  or  psous  shall  be  seuerely  whipt,  or 


136  APPENDIX. 

pay  the  some  of  five  pounds.  This  order  was 
publised  21 :  8  m",  56,  in  seuerall  places  of 
Boston,  by  beats  of  drunime. 

Att  a  Gennerall  Court,  held  at  Boston,  14:  of 
October,  1657. 

As  an  addition  to  y"  late  order  in  reference  to 
the  coming  or  bringing  in  any  of  the  cursed  sect 
of  the  Quakers  into  this  jurisdiction,  it  is  or- 
dered, that  whosoeuer  shall  from  henceforth 
bring  or  cavvse  to  be  brought,  directl}'  or  indi- 
rectly, any  kuoune  Quaker  or  Quakers,  or  other 
blasphemous  haereticks,  into  this  jurisdiccbn, 
euery  such  person  shall  forfeite  the  some  of  one 
hundred  pounds  to  y*^  countrje,  and  shall  by  war- 
rant from  any  magistrate  be  comitted  to  prison 
there  to  remajue  till  the  poenalty  be  sattisfjed 
and  pajd  ;  and  if  any  person  or  persons  w"'in 
this  jurisdiccbn  shall  henceforth  entertajne  and 
conceale  any  such  Quaker  or  Quakers  or  other 
blasphemous  htereticks,  (knowing  them  so  to  be) 
euery  such  person  shall  forfeite  to  the  countrye 
forty  shillings  for  euery  bowers  entertajnment 
and  concealement  of  any  Quaker  or  Quakers,  as 
aforesajd,  and  shall  be  coffiitted  to  prison,  as 
aforesajd,  till  the  forfeitures  be  fully  sattisfied 
and  pajd. 

And  it  is  further  ordered,  that  if  any  Quaker 
or  Quakers  shall  presume,  after  they  haue  once 
suffered  what  the  lawe  requireth,  to  come  into 
this  jurisdiccbn,  euery  such  male  Quaker  shall 
for  the  first  oiienc  haue  one  of  his  eares  cutt 


APPENDIX.  137 

off,  and  be  kept  at  works  in  the  howse  of  cor- 
rection till  he  cana  be  sent  away  at  his  oune 
charge,  and  for  the  second  offenc  shall  haue  his 
other  eare  cutt  of,  &c.  and  kept  at  the  howse  of 
correction,  as  aforesaid ;  and  euery  woman 
Quaker  that  hath  suffered  the  lawe  heere  that 
shall  presume  to  come  into  this  jurisdicclin  shall 
be  severely  whipt,  and  kept  at  the  howse  of  cor- 
rection at  worke  till  she  be  sent  away  at  hir 
oune  charge,  and  so  also  for  hir  coming  agaiue 
she  shall  be  alike  vsed  as  aforesajd  ;  and  for 
euery  Quaker,  he  or  she,  that  shall  a  third  tjme 
heerein  againe  offend,  they  shall  haue  theire 
toungues  bored  through  w"'  a  hot  iron,  «fe  kept 
at  the  howse  of  correction,  close  to  worke,  till 
they  be  sent  away  at  theire  oune  charge.  And 
it  is  further  ordered,  that  all  &  euery  Quaker 
arising  from  amongst  ourselves  shall  be  dealt 
w*  &  suffer  \\\Q  like  punishment  as  the  lawe 
provides  against  forreigne  Quakers. 

At  a  Gennerall  Courte  held  at  Boston,  the  I'dth  of 
May,  1658. 

That  Quakers  and  such  accursed  hasreticques 
arising  amongst  ourselves  may  be  dealt  withall 
according  to  theii'e  deserts,  and  that  theire  pes- 
tilent errors  and  practizes  may  speedily  be  pre- 
vented, itt  is  heereby  ordered,  as  an  addition  to 
the  former  lawe  against  Quakers,  that  euery 
such  person  or  persons  professing  any  of  their 
pernitious  wajes,  by  speaking,  writting,  or  by 
meetings  on  the  Lords  day,  or  any  other  tjme, 


138  APPENDIX. 

to  strengthen  themselves  or  seduce  others  to 
theire  djabolljcall  doctrine,  shall,  after  due  meanes 
of  conviction  incurre  the  poenalty  ensuing ;  that 
is,  euery  person  so  meeting  shall  pay  to  the 
countrje  for  euery  tjme  tenn  shillings,  and  euery 
one  speaking  in  such  meetings  shall  pay  five 
pounds  a  peece,  and  in  case  any  such  person 
hath  binn  punished  by  scourging  or  whipping 
the  first  tjme,  according  to  the  former  lawes, 
shall  be  still  kept  at  worke  in  the  house  of  cor- 
rection till  they  put  in  securitje  w"^  two  sufRcjent 
men  that  they  shall  not  any  more  vent  theire 
hatefull  errors,  nor  vse  theire  sinfull  practizes, 
or  els  shall  depart  this  jurisdictjon  at  theire 
oune  charges  ;  and  if  any  of  them  returne  againe, 
then  each  such  person  shall  incurre  the  pcjeualty 
of  the  lawes  formerly  made  for  straingers. 

Att  the  second  Sessions  of  the  Generall  Court, 
held  at  Boston,  the  1  %th  of  October,  1  658. 
Whereas  there  is  a  pernitious  sect,  comonly 
called  Quakers,  lately  risen,  who,  by  word  &> 
writing,  haue  published  &  maintayned  many 
dajngerous  &  horrid  tennetts,  and  doe  take  vpon 
them  to  chainge  and  alter  the  received  laudable 
customes  of  our  nation  in  giving  ciuill  respect  to 
iequalls  or  reuerence  to  superiors,  whose  actions 
tend  to  vndermine  the  authority  of  civill  gouern- 
ment,  as  also  to  destroy  the  order  of  the 
churches,  by  denying  all  established  formes  of 
worship,  and  by  w'Mx-awing  from  the  orderly 
church  assembljes  allowed  &  approoved  by  all 


APPENDIX.  139 

orthodox  proffessors  of  the  truth,  and  insteed 
thereof,  and  in  oi^position  therevnto,  frequenting 
private  meetings  of  theire  oune,  insinuating 
themselves  into  the  minds  of  the  simpler,  or 
such  as  are  lesse  affected  to  the  order  &  gouern- 
ment  in  church  and  coiiion wealth,  whereby  die- 
uerse  of  our  inhabitants  haue  binn  infected  & 
seduced,  and  notw^'standing  all  former  lawea 
made  (vpon  experience  of  theire  arrogant, 
bold  obtrusions  to  disseminate  theire  principles 
amongst  vs)  prohibbitting  theire  coming  into 
this  jurisdiction,  they  haue  not  binn  deterred 
from  theire  impetuous  attempts  to  vndermine 
our  peace  and  hasten  our  ruine. 

For  prevention  whereof,  this  Court  doth  order 
and  enact,  that  euery  person  or  persons  of  the 
cursed  sect  of  the  Quakers,  who  is  not  an  in- 
habitant off  but  found  w"'in  this  jurisdiction, 
shall  be  app'hended  (without  warrant),  where  no 
magistrate  is  at  hand,  by  any  counstable,  comis- 
sioner,  or  selectman,  and  conveyed  from  conn- 
stable  to  counstable,  vntill  they  come  before  the 
next  magistrate,  who  shall  coEQitt  the  sajd  per- 
son or  persons  to  close  prison,  there  to  remajne 
with  out  bayle  vntill  the  next  Court  of  Asis- 
tants,  where  they  shall  haue  a  legall  trjall  by  a 
speciall  jury,  &  being  convicted  to  be  of  the  sect 
of  the  Quakers,  shall  be  sentenced  to  bannish- 
ment,  vpon  pajne  of  death  ;  and  that  euery  in- 
habitant of  this  jurisdiction  being  convicted  to 
be  of  the  aforesajd  sect,  either  by  taking  vp, 
publishing,  &  defending  the  horrid  opinions  of 


140  APPENDIX. 

the  Quakers,  or  by  stirring  vp  mutiny,  sedition, 
or  rebelijon  against  the  government,  or  by  taking 
vp  tlieire  absurd  and  destructiue  practises,  viz', 
denying  civil  respect  &  reuerence  to  a^qualls  & 
superiors,  w'Mrawing  from  our  church  assem- 
bljes,  &>  insteed  thereof  frequenting  private 
meetings  of  tlieir  oune  in  opposition  to  church 
order,  or  by  adhering  to  or  approoviug  of  any 
knoune  Quaker,  or  the  tenetts  &  practises  of  the 
Quakers,  that  are  opposite  to  the  orthodoxe  re- 
ceived opinions  &  practises  of  the  godly,  and 
endeavoring  to  disaffect  others  to  ciuill  gouern- 
ment  &  church  order,  and  condemning  the  prac- 
tise &  proceedings  of  this  Court  against  the 
Quakers,  manifesting  thereby  theire  compljance 
w***  those  whose  designe  it  is  to  ouerthrow  the 
order  established  in  church  and  comonwealth, 
euery  such  person,  vpon  examination  &  legall 
conviction  before  the  Court  of  Asistants,  in 
manner  as  aboue  sajd,  shall  be  comitted  to  close 
prison  for  one  moneth,  and  then,  vulesse  they 
choose  voluntarily  to  depart  the  jurisdiction, 
shall  giue  bond  for  theire  good  abbearance  &  ap- 
pearance at  the  next  Court  of  Asistants,  where 
continuing  obstinate  and  refusing  to  retract  & 
reforme  the  aforesajd  opinions  and  practises, 
shall  be  sentenced  to  bannishment  upon  pajne  of 
death ;  and  in  case  of  the  aforesajd  voluntary 
departure,  not  to  remajne  or  againe  to  returne 
into  this  jurisdiction  w%ut  the  alowance  of  the 
majo''  part  of  the  councill  first  had  &  published, 
on  poenalty   of   being  banished   vpon    pajne    of 


APPENDIX.  141 

death ;  and  any  one  magistrate,  vpon  informa- 
tion giuen  him  of  any  such  person,  shall  cause 
them  to  be  app'hended,  and  if,  vpon  examination 
of  the  case,  he  shall,  according  to  his  best  dis- 
cretion, finde  just  ground  for  such  complain te, 
he  shall  comitt  such  person  to  prison  vntill  he 
come  to  his  trjall,  as  is  aboue  expressed. 

Alt  a  Geticrall  Court  of  Election,  held  at  Boston, 
2-2d  3Iay,  1661. 

This  Court,  being  desirous  to  try  all  meanes, 
w*''  as  much  lenity  as  may  consist  w"'  our  safety, 
to  prevent  the  intrusions  of  the  Quakers,  who, 
besides  theire  absurd  &  blasphemous  doctrine, 
doe,  like  rouges  &  vagabonds,  come  in  vpon  vs, 
&  haue  not  bin  restreined  by  the  lawes  already 
provided,  haue  ordered,  that  euery  such  vaga- 
bond Quaker  found  w"^in  any  part  of  this  juris- 
diction shall  be  app'hended  by  any  person  or 
persons,  or  by  the  connstable  of  the  toune 
virherein  he  or  she  is  taken,  &  by  the  connstable, 
or,  in  his  absence,  by  any  other  person  or  per- 
sons, conveyed  before  the  next  magistrate  of  that 
sheire  wherein  they  are  taken,  or  coinissioner 
invested  w"'  magistratticall  power,  &  being  by 
the  sajd  magistrate  or  magistrates,  coFuissioner 
or  comissioners,  adjudged  to  be  a  wandering  Qua- 
ker, viz',  one  that  hath  not  any  dwelling  or  or- 
derly allowance  as  an  inhabitant  of  this  jurisdic- 
tion, &  not  giving  ciuil  respect  by  the  vsuall 
gestures  thereof,  or  by  any  other  way  or  meanes 
manifesting  himself  to  be  a   Quaker,   shall,  by 


142  APPENDIX. 

warrant  vnder  the  hand  of  the  sajd  magistrate 
or  magistrates,  comissioner  or  comissioners,  di- 
rected to  the  connstable  of  the  toune  wherein  he 
or  she  is  taken,  or  in  absence  of  the  connstable, 
or  any  othere  meete  person,  be  stripped  naked 
from  the  midle  vpwards,  and  tjed  to  a  carts 
tayle,  «Sc  whipped  thro*"  the  toune,  &  from  thence 
imediately  conveyed  to  the  connstable  of  the 
next  touue,  towards  the  borders  of  our  jurisdic- 
tion, as  theire  warrant  shall  direct,  &  so  from 
connstable  to  connstable  till  they  be  conveyed 
thro**  any  the  outward  most  tonnes  of  our  juris- 
diction. And  if  such  vagabond  Quaker  shall 
returne  againe,  then  to  be  in  like  manner  app'- 
hended  &  conveyed  as  often  as  they  shall  be 
found  w'4n  the  limitts  of  our  jurisdiction,  pro- 
vided euery  such  wandering  Quaker,  hauing 
beene  thrice  convicted  ci  sent  away  as  aboue- 
sajd,  &  returning  againe  into  this  jurisdiction, 
shall  be  app'hended  &  comitted  by  an}'^  magis- 
trate or  comissioner  as  abouesajd  vnto  the  house 
of  correction  w'^'in  that  county  wherein  he  or 
shee  is  found  untill  the  next  Court  of  that 
County,  where,  if  the  Court  judge  not  meete  to 
release  them,  they  shall  be  branded  with  the 
letter  R  on  theire  left  shoulder,  &  be  severely 
whipt  &  sent  away  in  manner  as  before ;  and 
if  after  this  he  or  shee  shall  returne  againe, 
then  to  be  proceeded  against  as  incorrigible 
rogues  &  ennemys  to  the  comon  peace,  and  shall 
imediately  be  app'hended  Cz  comitted  to  the 
comon  jayle   of  the   country,  and  at   the  next 


APPENDIX.  143 

Court  of  Asistants  shall  be  brought  to  theire 
tryall,  &  proceeded  ag'  according  to  the  lawc 
made  anno  1658,  page  36,  for  theire  banish- 
ment on  payne  of  death.  And  for  such  Qua- 
kers as  shall  arise  from  amongst  ourselves,  they 
shall  be  proceeded  ag*  as  the  former  lawe  of 
anno  1658,  page  36,  doth  provide,  vntill  they 
haue  beenc  convicted  by  a  Court  of  Asistants  ; 
&  being  so  convicted,  ho  or  shee  shall  then  be 
bannished  this  jurisdiction ;  &  if  after  that 
they  shall  be  found  in  any  part  of  this  jurisdic- 
tion, then  he  or  shee  so  sentenced  to  banishment 
shall  be  proceeded  against  as  those  that  are 
straingers  &  vagabond  Quakers  in  manner  as  is 
aboue  expressed.  And  it  is  further  ordered, 
that  whatsoeuer  charge  shall  arize  about  app'- 
hending,  whipping,  conveying,  or  otherwise, 
about  the  Quakers,  to  be  layd  out  by  the  conn- 
stables  of  such  tounes  where  it  is  expended,  & 
to  be  repajd  by  the  Tresurer  out  of  the  next 
country  levy ;  and  further,  that  tlie  connstables 
of  the  seuerall  tounes  are  hereby  empowred 
from  tjme  to  tjme,  as  necessity  shall  require,  to 
impresse  cart,  oxen,  &  other  asistance  for  the 
execution  of  this  orden 

The  following  Scriptural  argument,  "  To  vin- 
dicate the  justice  of  this  Courts  proceedings 
in  reflference  to  the  Quakers,"  was  circulated 
throughout  the  Mass.  Colony,  by  order  of  the 
"  Geuerall  Court"  Oct.  18'\  1659  : 


144  APPENDIX. 

Many  of  that  sect  of  people  which  are  com- 
only  called  Quakers  hauiug,  from  forreine  parts 
&  from  other  colonjes,  come  at  soundry  times 
and  in  seuerall  companjes  &,  noumbers  into  tliis 
jurisdiction  of  the  Massachusetts,  &  those  lesser 
punishments  of  the  house  of  corrections  &  im- 
prisonment for  a  tjme  hauing  beene  inflicted  on 
some  of  them,  but  not  suflScing  to  deterr  & 
keepe  them  away,  but  that  still  they  haue  pre- 
sumed to  come  hither,  vpon  no  other  ground  or 
occasion  (for  ought  that  could  appeare)  but  to 
scatter  theire  corrupt  opinions,  &  to  drawe  others 
to  theire  way,  &  so  to  make  disturbance,  and  tho 
honnored  Generall  Court  having  herevpon  made 
an  order  &  lawe,  that  such  persons  should  be 
bannished  &  remooved  hence,  on  pajne  of  death, 
to  be  inflicted  on  such  of  them,  as  after  theire 
bannishment  should  presume  to  returne  &  come 
hither  againe,  the  making  &  execution  of  the 
aforesajd  lawe  may  be  cleered  to  be  warrantable 
&,  just  vpon  such  grounds  &  considerations  as 
these,  viz. : 

1.  The  doctrine  of  this  sect  of  people  is  de- 
structive to  fundamentall  trueths  of  religion,  as 
the  sacred  Trinitje,  the  person  of  Christ  &  the 
holy  Scriptures,  as  a  perfect  rule  of  faith  &  life, 
as  M''  Norton  hath  shewed  in  his  tractate  against 
the  Quakers ;  yea,  that  one  opinion  of  theires, 
of  being  perfectly  pure  and  w^'^out  sinne,  tends 
to  ouer throw  the  whole  gospell  &  the  very 
vitalls  of  Christianitje,  for  they  that  haue  no 
sinne,  haue  no  neede  of  Christ,  or  of  his  sattis- 


APPENDIX.  145 

faction,  or  his  blood  to  cleanse  them  .from  theire 
sinue ;  no  need  of  faith  to  believe  in  Christ,  for 
imputed  righteousnes  to  justify  them,  as  being 
perfectly  just  in  themselves  ;  no  needs  of  re- 
pentance, as  being  righteous  &  w'^'out  sinne,  for 
repentance  is  only  for  such  as  have  siune ;  no 
neede  of  growing  in  grace,  nor  of  the  word  and 
ordinances  of  God,  that  they  may  grow  thereby, 
for  what  neede  they  to  grow  better  who  are  al- 
ready pei'fect  ?  no  neede  of  Christian  watchful- 
nes  against  sinne  who  haue  no  such  ennemy  as 
sinne  dwelling  in  them,  as  Paul  had,  but  are 
free  from  the  presence  and  being  of  sinne,  & 
therefore  Christ  needs  not  to  say  to  them,  as 
sometjmes  to  his  disciples,  '  Watch  «&  pray,  that 
yee  enter  not  into  temptation ;  the  spirit  is  will- 
ing but  the  flesh  is  weake ' ;  for  hauing  no  such 
flesh  or  weakenesse  in  them,  they  haue  no  such 
neede  of  watchfulnesse ;  they  haue  no  neede  to 
purify  themselves  dayly,  as  all  Christians  should, 
for  they  are  perfectly  pure  already  ;  no  neede  to 
put  off  the  old  man  and  put  on  the  new,  like  the 
Christians  to  whom  Paul  wrote  his  Epistles,  for 
what  neede  they  to  doe  this  when  they  are  al- 
ready w*''out  sinne,  and  so  w"^out  all  remainders 
of  the  old  man  ?  Such  fundamentalls  of  Chris- 
tianitje  are  ouerthroune  by  this  one  opinion  of 
theires,  &,  how  much  more  by  all  theire  other 
doctrines!  Now,  the  coiSandment  of  God  is 
plajiie,  that  he  that  presumes  to  speake  lyes  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  &  turne  people  out  of  the 
way  which  the  Lord  hath  comanded  to  walk  in, 

10 


146  APPENDIX. 

such  an  one  must  not  Hue,  but  be  put  to  death  ; 
Zach.  13:  3  ;  Deut.  13  :  6;  &  18:  20  ;  &  if  the 
doctrine  of  the  Quakers  be  not  such,  let  the 
wise  judge. 

2.  It  is  the  comandment  of  the  blessed  God, 
that  Christians  should  obej'  magistrates,  Tit. 
3  :  1  ;  «fe  that  euery  soule  should  be  subject  to 
the  higher  powers,  Rom.  13 :  1  ;  yea,  be  sub- 
ject to  euery  ordinance  of  man  for  the  Lords 
sake,  1  Peet.  2  :  13  ;  &  yeeld  honnor  &  reuer- 
ence  or  feare  to  such  as  are  in  authoritje,  Prou. 
24:  21;  1  Pet.  2:  17;  &  forbeare  all  cursing 
and  reviling  &  evill  speeches  touching  such  per- 
sons, Exod.  22:  28;  Eclesiast.  10:  20;  Tit.  3: 
2 ;  Acts  23  :  5  ;  &  accordingly  good  men  haue 
beene  wont  to  behaue  themselves  w*''  gestures 
and  speeches  of  reuerence  and  honnor  towards 
superiors  in  place  and  power,  as  Abraham  bowed 
downe  himself  to  the  Hittites,  Gene.  23  :  7,  12; 
Jacob  &  his  wives  &  children  unto  Esau,  Gene. 
33  :  3,  6,  7  ;  Josephs  brethren  vnto  Joseph, 
being  governor  in  ^gipt.  Gene.  42  :  6  ;  &  43 : 
26  &  28  ;  Joseph  to  his  father  Jacob,  Gene.  48: 
12  ;  Moses  to  his  father  in  lawe  Jethro,  Exod. 
18:  7;  Ruth  to  Boaz,  Ruth  2:  1,0;  Dauid  to 
Saul,  1  Sam.  24:  6;  ...  1  Kings  1:  16,  23, 
31 ;  w"*  otherr  that  might  be  added.  And  for  re- 
viling or  contemptuous  speeches,  they  haue  binn 
so  farre  therefrom  that  they  haue  spoken  to  and 
of  theire  superiors  w***  termes  &  expressions  of 
much  honor  &  reuerence,  as  father,  1  Sara.  19  : 
3 ;  1  Kings  19  :  20  ;  &  2  :  2,  12  ;  master,  2  Kings 


APPENDIX.  147 

6:  15  ;  1  Sam.  24 :  6;  lord,  Gen.  33 :  13,  14  ;  1 
Pet.  3  :   6  ;  ray  lord,  1   Sam.   24  :  8  ;  Gen.  44  : 
18,    19,    20;  1    Sam.    1:    15,    26;    most   noble 
Festus,  Acts  26 :  25  ;  most  excellent  Theophilus, 
Luke  1:3;  and  the  like  ;  that  servant  of  Abra- 
ham's, Gen.  24,  doth  call  Abraham  by  the  terme 
&  title  of  master,  a  matter  of  twenty  times  or 
not  much  lesse,  in  that  one  chapter  ;  and  on  the 
contrary,  it  is  noted  as  a  brand  &  reproach  of 
false  teachers,  that  they  despise  dominion  and 
are  not  afrajd  to  speake  evill  of  dignitjes,  2  Pet. 
2:10;  Jude  8  ;  though  the  very  aingells  would 
not  doe  so  vnto  the  divill,  2  Peet.  2:11;  Jude 
9.     Now,  it  is  well  knoune  that  the  practize  of 
the  Quakers  is  but  too  like  these  false  teachers 
whom  the  apostles  speake   of,  &   that   they  are 
farre   from  giving  that  honnor  &  reuerence   to 
magistrates  which   the   Lord   requireth,  &  good 
men  haue  giuen   to  them,  but  on    the  contrary 
show  contempt  against  them  in  theire  very  out- 
ward gestures  &  behavior,  &  (some  of  them   at 
least)  spare  not  to  belch  out  raj  ling  &  cursing 
speeches.     Wittnes  that  odjous,  cursing  letter  of 
Humphrey  Norton ;  and   if  so,  if  Abishaj   may 
be  judge,   they   are    worthy  to    die ;  for    so    he 
thought  of  Shimej  for  his  contemptuous  carriage 
and  cursing  speeches  against  Dauid,  2  Sara.  16: 
9  ;  &  19  :  21.     And  though  Dauid  at  that  tjme 
did  forbeare  to  put  him  to  death,  yet  he  giues 
chardge   to   Solomon,  that    this   Shimej    hauing 
cursed  him  w"*  such  a  grievous  curse,  he  should 
not   hold   him   guiltlesse,    but  bring   doune   his 


148  APPENDIX. 

hoarje  head  to  the  graue  w"*  blood,  1  Kings  2 : 
8,  9  ;  according  to  which  direction  King  Solomon 
caused  him  to  be  put  to  deatli,  Vers.  44,  46. 

3.  Also,  in  this  story  of  Solomon  &  Shimej,  1 
Kings  2,  it  is  recorded  how  Solomon  confined 
Shimei  to  Jerusalem,  chardging  him  vpon  pajne 
of  death,  not  to  goe  out  thence,  &  telling  him 
that  if  he  did  he  should  dye  for  it,  which  con- 
finement when  Shimej  had  broken,  though  it 
were  three  yeares  after,  &  vpon  an  occasion  that 
might  seeme  to  haue  some  weight  in  it,  viz.,  to 
fetch  againe  his  servants  that  were  runne  away 
from  him,  yett  for  all  this,  the  confinement  being 
broken,  Solomon  would  not  spare  him,  but  putts 
him  to  death ;  and  if  execution  of  death  be  law- 
full  for  breach  of  confinement,  may  not  the  same 
be  sajd  for  breach  of  bannishment  ?  Confine- 
ment, of  the  two,  may  seeme  to  be  much 
sleighter,  because  in  this  a  man  is  Ijmited  to  one 
place  &  debarred  from  all  others,  whereas  in 
bannishment  a  man  is  debarred  from  no  place 
but  one,  all  others  being  left  to  his  liberty ;  the 
one  debarres  him  from  all  places,  saue  that  it 
giues  liberty  to  one  ;  the  other  giues  liberty  to 
all  places,  saue  that  it  restraines  from  one  ;  and 
therefore  if  death  may  be  justly  inflicted  vpon 
breach  of  confinement,  much  more  for  returne 
vpon  bannishment,  which  is  these  Quakers  case. 

4.  There  is  no  man  that  is  possessed  of  house 
or  land,  wherein  he  hath  just  title  &  propriety  as 
his  oune,  but  he  would  count  it  vnreasonably 
injurious  that  another  who   had   uo   authoritje 


APPENDIX.  149 

thereto  should  intrude  &,  enter  into  his  house 
w'^'out  his,  tlie  ouno""^  consent ;  yea,  and  when 
the  ouno""  doth  expressly  prohibitt  &  forbidd  the 
same.  Wee  say,  when  the  man  that  so  pre- 
sumes to  enter  hath  no  authoritje  thereto  ;  for  if 
it  were  a  connstable  or  other  officer  legally  au- 
thorized, such  an  one  might  indeed  enter,  not- 
w^'standing  the  liouseholders  dissent  or  charge 
to  the  contrary  ;  but  for  them  that  haue  no  au- 
thoritje the  case  is  otherwise.  And  if  such  one 
should  presume  to  enter  into  another  man's 
house  &  habitation,  he  might  justly  be  im- 
pleaded as  a  theife  or  an  vsurper  ;  &  if  in  case 
of  such  violent  assault,  the  owno''  should,  se  de- 
fendendo,  slay  the  assaylant  &  intruder,  his 
blood  would  be  vpon  his  ouue  head.  And  if 
private  persons  may  in  case  shed  the  blood  of 
such  intruders,  may  not  the  like  be  graunted  to 
them  that  are  the  publicke  keepers  and  guard- 
ians of  the  comonwealth  ?  Haue  not  they  as 
much  power  to  take  away  the  Hues  of  such,  as 
contrary  to  prohibition,  shall  jnvade  &  intrude 
into  theire  publicke  possessions  or  territorjes  as 
private  and  particcular  persons  to  deale  so  vv"^ 
them  that,  w"^out  authoritje,  shall  presume  to 
enter  into  theire  private  &  particcular  habita- 
tions ?  which  seemes  clearly  to  be  the  present 
case ;  for  who  cann  belieue  that  Quakers  are 
connstables  ouer  this  colonje,  to  intrude  them- 
selves, invade,  &  enter,  whither  the  colonje  will 
or  no,  yea,  &  notw^'standiug  theire  expresse 
prohibition  to  the  contrary  ?     If  in  such  violent 


150  APPENDIX. 

and  bold  attempt  they  loose  theire  Hues,  they 
may  thank  themselves  as  the  blameable  cause  & 
autho"  of  theire  oune  death. 

5.  Who  cann  make  question  but  that  a  man  that 
hath  children  &  famil}'  botli  justly  may,  &  in 
duty  ought  to,  preserve  them  of  his  chardge  (as 
farre  as  he  is  able)  from  the  daingerous  com- 
pany of  persons  infected  w**"  the  plague  of  pesti- 
lence or  other  contagious,  noysome,  and  mortall 
diseases  ?  and  if  such  jjersons  shall  offer  to  in- 
trude into  the  mans  house  amongst  his  children 
&  servants,  notw"'standing  his  prohibition  and 
warning  to  the  contrary,  &  thereby  shall  jn- 
dainger  the  health  &  Hues  of  them  of  the 
familje,  cann  any  man  doubt  but  that  in  such 
case  the  father  of  the  familje,  in  defence  of 
himself  &  his,  may  w"'stand  the  intrusion  of 
such  infected  &  daingerous  persons  &  if  other- 
wise he  cann  not  keepe  them  out,  may  kill 
them  ?  Now,  in  Scripture,  corruption  in  minde 
&  judgment  is  counted  a  great  infection  &  de- 
filement, yea,  &  one  of  the  greatest ;  for  the 
apostle,  saying  of  some  men  that  to  them  there 
is  nothing  pure,  giues  this  as  the  reason  of  it, 
because  euen  theire  minde  &  conscience  is  de- 
filed. Tit.  1  :  15  ;  as  if  defilement  of  the  minde 
did  argue  the  defilement  of  all,  &  that  in  such 
case  there  was  nothing  pure  ;  euen  as  when  lep- 
rosie  was  in  the  head,  the  preist  must  pronounce 
such  a  man  vtterly  vncleane,  sith  the  plague  was 
in  his  head,  Levitt  13  :  44.  And  it  is  tlie  Lords 
comand  that  such   corrupt  persons    be  not  re- 


APPENDIX.  151 

ceaved  into  house,  2  John  10,  which  plainly 
enough  impljes  that  the  householder  hath  power 
to  keepe  them  out,  &  y'  it  was  not  in  theire 
power  to  come  in  if  they  pleased,  whither  the 
householder  would  or  no.  And  if  the  father  of 
a  particcular  family  may  thus  defend  his  chil- 
dren &  household,  may  not  magistrates  doe  the 
like  for  theire  subjects,  they  being  nursing 
fathers  and  nursing  mothers  by  the  account  of 
God  in  Holy  Scripture  ?  Isaj.  49  :  23d.  Is  it 
not  cleare,  y'  if  the  father  in  the  family  must 
keepe  them  out  off  his  house,  the  father  in  the 
comonwealth  must  keepe  them  out  of  his  juris- 
diction ?  And  if  sheepe  &  lambes  cannot  be 
preserved  from  the  dainger  of  woolves,  but  the 
woolves  will  breake  in  amongst  them,  it  is  easy 
to  see  what  the  shephard  or  keeper  of  the 
sheepe  may  lawfully  doe  in  such  a  case. 

6.  Itt  was  the  comandment  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  vnto  his  disciples,  that  when  they  were 
persecuted  in  one  citty,  they  should  flee  into 
another.  Math.  10:  23;  «&  accordingly  it  was 
his  oune  practise  so  to  doe  many  a  tjrae,  both 
when  he  was  a  child,  Math.  13:  14;  &  after- 
wards, 12:  15;  Joh.  7:  1  «&  8;  last,  10:  39; 
and  so  was  also  the  {practise  of  the  saints. 

Wittnes  what  is  written  of  Jacob,  Gen.  27  : 
42,  43  &  28:  5;  of  Moses,  Exod.  2:  14,  15; 
of  Eljas,  1  Kings  19:  3;  of  Paul,  Acts  9:  24, 
25,  29,  30,  &  17  :  13,  14;  &  of  the  apostle, 
Acts  14:  4,  5,  &  others,  who  when  they  haue 
beene  persecuted,  haue  fled  away  for  theire  oune 


152  APPENDIX. 

Bafety ;  and  reason  requires  that  when  men  haue 
liberty  vnto  it,  they  should  not  refuse  so  to  doe, 
because  otherwise  i\\ey  will  be  guilty  of  tempt- 
ing God,  &  of  incurring  tlieire  oune  hurt,  as 
having  a  fairs  way  open  for  the  avo}ding 
thereof,  but  they  needelessly  expose  themselves 
thereto.  If  therefore,  that  which  is  doune 
against  Quakers  in  this  jurisdiction  were  indeed 
persecution,  as  they  account  of  it,  (though  in 
trueth  it  is  not  so,  but  the  due  ministration  of 
justice  ;  but  suppose  it  were  as  they  thinke  it  to 
be)  what  spirit  may  they  be  thought  to  be  acted 
&  led  by,  who  are  in  theire  actings  so  contrary 
to  the  coiSandment  &  example  of  Christ  &  of 
his  saints  in  the  case  of  persecusion,  which  these 
men  suppose  to  be  theire  case  ?  Plaine  enough 
it  is,  that  if  theire  case  were  the  same,  theire 
actings  are  not  the  same,  but  quite  contrary,  so 
that  Christ  and  his  saints  were  led  by  one  spirit, 
and  those  people  by  another ;  for  rather  then 
they  would  not  show  theire  contempt  of  author- 
itje,  and  make  disturbance  amongst  his  people, 
they  choose  to  goe  contrary  to  the  expresse  direc- 
tions of  Jesus  Christ,  &  the  aprooved  examples 
of  his  saints,  although  it  be  to  the  hazard  &  per- 
rill  of  theire  oune  Hues. 


APPENDIX.  153 


PETITION    FOR    SEVERER    LAWS    AGAINST 
THE   QUAKERS,   OCTOBER,  1658.1 

To  the  Honored  General  Court  now  afsemhled  at 
Boston. 

The  humble  Petition  of  vs  whose  Names  are 
Vuderwritten :  Humbly  sheweth. 

That  where  as  through  the  good  hand  of  the 
Lord,  this  Country  hath  for  seuerall  yeares  past, 
by  means  of  the  pious  care&  faithfullnes  of  those 
which  haue  satt  att  y®  helme,  beene  preserued 
from  many  menacing  dangers,  both  as  to  its 
ciuill  &  religious  interest,  in  respect  of  w*^'^  we 
may  not  but  allwayes  acknowledg  o''selues  w"^ 
great  thaukfullnes  debtors  to  the  Lord  first,  and 
then  to  o''  gouernors  in  the  Lord  yett  finding  by 
experience,  Satan  is  not  wanting  to  this  day  by 
himself  and  instrum'^  to  attempt  new  wayes,  vnto 
the  disturbing,  nay  we  may  truly  say  the  Sub- 
verting of  o""  ciuill  &  religious  Polities,  as  well 
as  in  other  p''ts. 

And  although,  this  hath  in  its  measure  beene 
taken  notice  of,  &  foreseene  by  this  Hon''  Court 
in  respect  of  many  who  haue  of  late  audaciously 
intruded  themselues  among  vs,  vnder  the  name 
of  Quakers,  whence  your  pious  Endeauours  haue 
beene  exerted  to  free  vs  of  soe  great  an  Euill 
threatned. 

Notwithstanding,  in  so  much  as  the  prouision 
1  Massachusetts  Archives,  vol.  x.  p.  246. 


154  APPENDIX. 

y'  is  already  made  [by  reason  of  their  prodigious 
iusoleiicy]  doth  not  secure  vs  of  the  future  en- 
joym'  of  o"'  ciuill  &  religious  Libertyes,  as  is  to  be 
desired.  Wee  therefore  take  o''selues  bound, 
both  in  conscience  to  God,  and  faithfullnes  to 
this  Gouerinn'  and  people,  whereof  we  are  a  part, 
to  present  the  following  Propositions  to  yo""  most 
serious  considerations,  &,  y'  at  such  a  time. 

1^'.  Not  here  to  examine  their  malignit}'^  ags' 
the  establishm*  of  ciuill  Gouermn',  in  the  hands 
of  any  such,  as  is  subseruient  to  y*'  end  thereof 
viz*  the  good  of  y*^  people. 

whether  these  persons,  are  not  indeed  to  be 
looked  at,  as  professed  Enemies  to  y*"  christian 
Magistrate,^  and  open  Seducers  of  y*  people  there- 
from, where  they  are  permitted  to  be,  they  call- 
ing disobedience,  vnto  a  great  part  of  y*  5"^  Com- 
mandm",  obedience  :  we  say  of  y"  5*"^  commandm', 
y*  foundatio  of  y''  p''cepts  of  y^  2*^  table,  and  this 
they  hauld  forth  as  openly,  if  not  as  much,  as 
ags'  y*^  power  of  y*^  Magistrate,  in  matters  of  re- 
ligion belonging  to  the  first  Table. 

2'y.  Whether,  their  practise  vnder  pretence  of 
new  light,  tends  not  manifestly,  to  y*  vtter  sub- 
version of  the  verry  body  of  religion,  witnes,  their 
deniall  of  the  Trinity,  y'  is  to  say,  the  Trinity  of 
persons,  or  distinct  subsistances  in  y'^  diuine  na- 
ture, their  deniall  of  y*  person  of  Christ,  of  y* 
Scripturs  as  a  rule  of  life,  &  of  y^  whole  church 
institution  of  y**  Gospell,  y*^  ordinary  means 
appointed  for  y''  coimersion  and  edification  of 
Soules. 

1  See  Capital  Law  title  Conspiracy. 


APPENDIX.  155 

3'y.  Whether,  their  incorrigiblenes  after  soe 
much  means  vsed  both  for  their  conviction,  & 
preserving  this  place  from  contagion,  being  such, 
as  by  reason  of  their  malignant  obduratices,  dayly 
increaseth  rather  then  abateth  o""  feare  of  y®  Spirit 
of  Muncer,  or  Jo°  of  Leyden  reviued,  &  conse- 
(juently  of  some  destructiue  euill  impending  :  Itt 
be  not  necessary,  after  y^  example  of  other  chris- 
tian comon  weales  infected  w"^  pests,  not  more 
perillous  then  these  are,  and  y"  common  &  vni- 
nersally  approued  argura'  of  se  dffendendo,  vpon 
y''  sad  experience  of  y"  remedy  hitherto  applyed, 
is  not  only  not  effectnall,  but  contemned,  and 
abused  w"^  y®  highest  hand,  if  after  y®  sentance 
of  banishm*  added  therevnto,  they  shall  still  pre- 
sumptuously obtrude  themselues  vpon  this  juris- 
diction, wheth''  we  say,  it  be  not  necefsary  to 
punish  soe  high  incorrigiblenes,  in  such  and  soe 
many  capitall  euills,  w"*  death,  rather  y°  expose 
religion,  this  gouermn',  &  y®  whole  people  to 
both  temporall  and  etern'^  ruine.  And  as  for 
any  y'  may  arise  among  o''Selues  after  conviction 
of  being  quakers  w"*  an  admonition  therevnto, 
they  shall  still  continue  obstinate,  y''  then  they 
in  like  man''  may  be  sentenced  to  banishm*,  and 
if  thay  shall  againe  presumptiously  obtrude  them- 
selues vpon  this  jurisdiction,  y'  y''°  thay  may  be 
proceeded  w"^  as  y"  others. 

Much  Hon'^  these  Propositions  humbly  &  re- 
ligiously presented  [yo""  Servants  are  far  fro  pre- 
scribing any  thing  to  yo""  wisdomes]  w'*"  o' 
prayers  y'  a  diuine  Sentence  may  proceed  out  of 


166 


APPENDIX. 


yo""  mouth,  &  y'  yo""  lips  may  not  transgress  in 
jufigm*,  concerning  some  effectnall  &  speedy  ex- 
pedient, y*  may  crowne  you  with  being  y*^  jnstru- 
mentall  Sauior^  of  this  people,  in  soe  weighty  a 
cause,  &  in  this  hower  of  N  Vj  temptation  and 
together  w*"^  deliuerance  from  o''  feares,  minister 
matter  of  perpetuall  thanksgiuing  on  yo''  behalfe 
vnto  o''selues,  who  are 

Yo""-  most  humbly  devoted  in  all  christian  Ser- 
vice. 


W™  Dauis 
James  Johnson 
Nathaniell  Williams 
Henry  Powning 
John  Euered  alies  Webb 
Hezekiah  Vsher 
Thomas  Bumsted 
Tho  Clark 
Theodore  Atkinson 
Willy  am  Dinsdale 
Tho :  Snow 
John  Hull 
Anthony  Stoddard 


Natha:  Duncan 
John  Wilson 
Will  Colbron 
James  Penn 
Ed  Raynsford 
Robert  Waker 
Tho  Marshall 
Will  Hudson 
William  Salter 
Henry  Phillips 
Thomas  Savage 
John  Newgate 


APPENDIX.  157 


THE   EXAM.  OF  QUAKERS   AT  Y^^  COURT   OF 
ASSISTANTS   IN  BOSTON,   MARCH  7,  '59-60.1 

Joseph  Nicholson,  Jane  his  wife,  and  Wains- 
locke  Cliristophersonne. 

Christopher  sayth  he  owns  y''  Scripture  to  be 
a  true  declaracon  of  X'  &  be  true  words  ;  he 
saith  y*  mind  of  God  man  must  know  as  they 
did  w"''  gave  forth  y*  Scriptures  ;  X'  is  y'^  rule  for 
evrie  one  to  walk  by. 

X'  is  y*^  word. 

the  letter  kills  ;  y*  Spirit  giveth  life. 

I  have  not  put  y*  Scripture  in  y®  roome  of  X*. 

Nichols  to  y"^  Gov'' :  thou  errest,  not  knowing 
y^  Scripture  nor  y'^  pow"'  of  God,  thou  art  not 
come  to  y*  w"**  gave  forth  y*'  Scriptures.  God 
heareth  us,  all  th.  is  but  jangling. 

Christ.  X'  sayth  sweare  not  at  all,  love  y""  en- 
emies, ^  he  y'  swears  is  out  of  y''  Doctrine  of  X'. 

Nicholson,  you  er  from  y'^  Scripture  in  keep- 
ing y''  1st  day  instead  of  y"  Sabbath.  Wee  owne 
ministers  of  y^  word,  but  not  of  y*  letter,  they 
y'  take  titles  were  nev""  sent  of  God. 

that  X'  in  whom  I  believe  is  a  Spirit,  a  savio' 
to  y''  M^^'"'  Denis :  thou  nev  heardest  by  voice, 
hearken  to  y''  voyce  of  X'  w"'in. 

:  y'  will  shew  the  thy  sins. 

Christoph.  he  hath  a  body.  one  body,  & 
one  spirilt.  &  no  other  but  w'  is  meant  in  y* 
place   Preaching,  reading,   singing,   done  by  y' 

1  Massachusetts  Archives,  vol.  x.  pp.  261-264. 


158  APPENDIX. 

Spirit  of  y*  Lord  we  owne.     All   other  is  an 
abominacon. 

Christoph,  in  obedience  to  y**  Lord  we  come 
hither. 

Nicholson.  "Wee  owne  quakering  to  be  of 
God,  and  wee  owne  quakers  whom  you  so  call 
to  be  children  of  God  &  to  be  of  y™  they  call 
quakers. 

Christopher  &  Jane  also  answered  Each  of  y'" 
for  thems.  that  they  were  of  them  they  called 
Quakers, 

The  Jury  was  called  over  to  y'"  all,  and  libty 
given  to  y""  all  to  challenge  any  of  y"^  off  y^ 
Bench. 

March  8'\  1660. 

Joseph  Nicholson  sayth  y*'  law  ag^'  Quakers  is 
a  wicked  law,  &  not  of  God. 

His  wife  denyes  y^  law  as  not  of  God. 

AY.  Christophson  sayth  as  a  witness  for  God  & 
his  law  he  stands  ag^'  you  &  yo""  law,  &  y'  y*  law 
ag*'  y°  quakers  is  ag^'  y^  law  of  God  and  is  a  cor- 
rupt law  neither  pure  nor  holy,  seeking  for 
bloud ;  &  Christ  fulfilled  y*  law  w'^'^  appoint  mur- 
derers to  be  put  to  death. 

Sayth  he  saw  y''  law  before  he  came  at  M,  & 
he  came  for  a  testimony  ag^'  this  cruelty ;  &  the 
God  of  order  y^  know  not.  In  y''  name  &  feare 
of  God  I  am  come. 

J.  N.  sayth  y*  God  y*  made  Heaven  8^  Earth  is 
not  yo"^  God. 

W.  C.  sayth  the  true  God  y*  made  heaven  & 
earth  we  know  ^  owne. 


APPENDIX.  159 

]\Iath.  Stanly  sayth  she  bears  witnes  ag^'  y®  law, 
for  X'  came  not  to  kill  but  to  save. 

Wm.  King  sayth  he  is  warned  of  God  not  to 
goe,  &  y'  he  will  stay,  tho  banished. 

W.  Christoph.  sayth  that  he  owned  y^  scrip- 
ture to  be  a  true  declaraccon,  but  not  y®  mind  of 
God,  &  sayth  that  we  know  not  y"  word  of  God, 
&  y'  not  one  man  here  can  prove  y"  scripture  to 
Be  y"  word  of  God.  Sayth  they  are  y^  words  of 
God,  but  not  y*  word ;  he  sayth  w'  he  sayth  is 
truth  according  to  Scripture,  &  y*  he  stands  here 
a  witnes  for  God. 

Margarett  Smith  sayth  she  denies  y''  law,  & 
stands  as  a  witnes  ag^'  y''  same. 

Ben  j.  Bulflower  sayeth  he  hath  fulfilled  y®  law 
of  God,  &  done  all  y'  it  requires. 

Nich.  Jn**  Endecutt.  I  stand  as  an  evidence 
ag^*  y^  thou  knowest  not  y®  pow""  of  God,  &  y* 
w'''^  thou  callest  heresie  in  me  shall  stand  for  ev. 
higlier  than  thee,  although  as  high  as  y'^  Pope 

Chambline.  sayth  y'  he  find  not  y''  opinion 
of  y'^  Quakers  to  be  cursed,  but  y'  w"'^  shall  stand 
when  all  yo"'^  shall  fall. 

W"  King  sayth  he  own  y®  Scripture  to  be  a 
true  declaraccon  of  y''  word  of  God. 

Mary  Trask.  &  Smith  &  Martha  Stanly,  in  a 
contemptuous  &  seditious  mann.  began  &  con- 
tinued to  speak,  to  y*  disturbance  of  Court,  so  y* 
y*  Court  was  forced  to  charge  y*  Jailor  to  cary 
y^  out  of  y®  Court. 

W"  King  sayth  I  am  sure  God  doth  &  will 
plead  o*"  cause. 


160  APPENDIX. 

from  Redding. 

Benj.  Bulflower  came  into  Court  w''^  his  hat 
cockt :  remaiueing  on  his  head.  &  refusing  to  pull 
it  of  w  comanded.  &  said  he  could  justifie  his 
accon  by  y*^  Scripture.  Alleading  for  his  prooffe 
y'  Scripture,  y'  God  threatned  his  people  y'  for 
y""  sin  he  would  bring  a  nation  ag^'  y™  y'  would 
not  Hon''  y*  person  of  y''  old  man, 

being  examined  in  Court, 

Asserted,  y'  after  y*^  Dissoluccon  of  y®  Body  & 
soule.  y^  body  should  nev  be  united  to  y^  soule 
more,  y'  y'^  first  day  of  y*  weeke  was  not  y^  sab- 
boath  but  y^  last  day  of  ye  weeke.  y^  7th  day. 

Martha  Stanly,  late  of  tenterdon  in  Kent.  &  a 
single  woman. 

Saith  she  had  a  message  from  y"^  Lord,  to  vis- 
sitt  her  freinds  in  prison  at  Boston,  her  message 
was  to  turn  people  from  darknes  to  light  to  y^ 
virtues  w"^in :  in  her  measure  she  hath  spoaken 
y^  same.  &  shall  go  on  to  y^  laying  down  her  life. 

Saith  wee  meet  w'*"  many  y*  tell  us  we  must 
sin  whiles  we  live. 

as  any  keep  to  y®  light  made  manifest  in  con- 
science they  sin  not. 

Sayth  I  acknowledge  my  selfs  to  be  one  of  y" 
whom  y''  world  in  scorne  call  quakers. 

Jn°  Chambline  of  Boston  came  into  Court  w"^ 
his  Hatt  on. 

ffrom  Salem. 

W"  King  w"'  his  ITatt  on  &  Mary  Trask  & 
Mary  Smith  came  into  Court. 


APPENDIX.  161 

owned  y'  they  were  at  a  meeting  at  Whartons 
on  y*'  Sabboath  day.  &  y'  they  were  such  as  y^ 
world  called  Quakers,  this  all  of  y™  pticularly 
owned. 

W™  King  sayth  Wharton  was  not  at  home  w 
they  were  there  —  and  I  am  sure  We  haV^ 
obeyed  y^  voyce  of  God  in  w'  we  have  done  & 
God  sayth  wo.  be  to  y"^  pastors  y*  destroy  y'^ 
flock  of  X'. 

March  9,  60. 

Major  Hawthorne  at  Dinn''  w"^  y**  Gov"^  & 
maiestrates  at  a  court  of  assistants,  said  that  at 
Salem  y""  was  a  woman  called  Consader  Southieck, 
y*^  said  shee  was  greater  y"  Moses,  for  Moses  had 
seen  God  but  twice  «fe  his  backe  parts,  &  shee 
had  seen  him  3  times  face  to  face,  instancing  the 
place  (i.  e.)  her  old  House  one  time,  &  by  such 
a  swamp  another  time. 

Also  he  said  a  woman  of  Lin  being  at  y*  meet- 
ing w  W""  Robinson  was  y''  who  pressed  much  y® 
seeking  for  y®  pow""  w'hin.  shee  asked  him  How 
shee  should  come  to  feele  y*^  pow''  w'^'in.  He 
told  her  y'  shee  must  cast  of  all  attendance  to  or- 
dinances, as  publike  p''ching,  pray"",  reading  y*^ 
Scripture,  &  attending  to  times  of  Gods  wor^,  and 
then  wayte  for  the  communicaccon  of  y®  pow'' 
w^'n. 

and  He  added  y'  Hee  y'  will  do  so,  it  will 
not  be  long,  but  y*^  Devill  will  appeare,  either 
more  explicitely,  or  at  least  implicitely  to  comu- 
necate  hims  — 

H 


162  APPENDIX. 

JAMES   CUDWORTH'S  LETTER,   WRITTEN   IN 
THE    TENTH   MONTH,  1658.1 

As  for  the  State  and  Condition  of  Things 
amongst  us,  it  is  Sad,  and  like  so  to  continue;  the 
Antichristian  Persecuting  Spirit  is  very  active, 
and  that  in  the  Powers  of  this  "World  :  He  that 
will  not  Whip  and  Lash,  Persecute  and  Punish 
Men  that  Differ  in  Matters  of  Religion,  must  not 
sit  on  the  Bench,  nor  sustain  any  Office  in  the 
Common-wealth.  Last  Election,  Mr.  Hatherly, 
and  my  Self,  left  off  the  Bench,  and  my  self 
Discharged  of  my  Captainship,  because  I  had 
entertained  some  of  the  Quakers  at  my  House, 
(thereby  that  I  might  be  the  better  acquainted 
with  their  Principles)  I  thought  it  better  so  to 
do,  than  with  the  blind  World,  to  Censure,  Con- 
demn, Rail  at,  and  Revile  them,  when  they  neither 
saw  their  Persons,  nor  knew  any  of  their  Prin- 
ciples :  But  the  Quakers  and  my  self  cannot 
close  in  divers  Things  ;  and  so  I  signified  to  the 
Court,  I  was  no  Quaker,  but  must  bear  my  Tes- 
timony against  sundry  Things  that  they  held,  as 
I  had  Occasion  and  Opportunity  :  But  withal,  I 
told  them.  That  as  I  was  no  Quaker,  so  I  would 
be  no  Persecutor.  This  Spirit  did  Work  those 
two  Years  that  I  was  of  the  Magistracy  ;  during 
which  time  I  was  on  sundry  Occasions  forced  to 
Declare  my  Dissent,  in  sundry  Actings  of  that 
Nature ;  which,  altho'  done  with  all  Moderation 
of  Expression,  together  with  due  respect   unto 

1  New  Enyland  Judged,  p.  168. 


APPENDIX.  163 

the  Rest,  yet  it  wrought  great  Disaflfection  and 
Prejudice  in  them,  against  me  ;  so  that  if  I  should 
say,  some  of  themselves  set  others  on  Work  to 
frame  a  Petition  against  me,  that  so  they  might 
have  a  seeming  Ground  from  others  (tho'  first 
moved  and  acted  by  themselves,  to  lay  me  what 
they  could  under  Reproach)  I  should  do  no 
Wrong.  The  Petition  was  with  Nineteen  Hands  ; 
it  will  be  too  long  to  make  Rehearsal :  It  wrought 
such  a  Disturbance  in  our  Town,  and  in  our 
Military  Company,  that  when  the  Act  of  Court 
was  read  in  the  Head  of  the  Company,  had  not  I 
been  present,  and  made  a  Speech  to  them,  I  fear 
there  had  been  such  Actings  as  would  have  been 
of  a  sad  Consequence.  The  Court  was  again 
followed  with  another  Petition  of  Fifty  Four 
Hands,  and  the  Court  return'd  the  Petitioners 
an  Answer  with  much  plausibleness  of  Speech, 
carrying  with  it  great  shew  of  Respect  to  them, 
readily  acknowledging,  with  the  Petitioners,  my 
Parts  and  Gifts,  and  how  useful  I  had  been  in 
my  Place ;  Professing  they  had  nothing  at  all 
against  me,  only  in  that  Thing  of  giving  Enter- 
tainment to  the  Quakers  ;  whereas  I  broke  no 
Law  in  giving  them  a  Nights  Lodging  or  two, 
and  some  Victuals  :  For,  our  Law  then  was,  —  If 
any  Entertain  a  Quaker,  and  keep  him  after  he 
is  warned  by  a  Magistrate  to  Depart,  the  Party 
so  entertaining,  shall  pay  Twenty  Shillings  a 
Week,  for  Entertaining  them.  —  Since  hath  been 
made  a  Law,  —  If  any  Entertain  a  Quaker,  if 
but  a  quarter  of  an  Hour,  he  is  to  forfeit  Five 


164  APPENDIX. 

Pounds.  —  Another,  —  That  if  any  see  a  Quaker, 
he  is  bound,  if  he  live  Six  Miles  or  more  from 
the  Constable,  yet  he  must  presently  go  and  give 
Notice  to  the  Constable,  or  else  is  subject  to  the 
Censure  of  the  Court  (which  may  be  Hanging)  — 
Another,  —  That  if  the  Constable  know,  or  hear 
of  any  Quaker  in  his  Precincts,  he  is  presently 
to  apprehend  him  ;  and  if  he  will  not  presently 
Depart  the  Town,  the  Constable  is  to  Whip  him, 
and  send  him  away.  —  And  divers  have  been 
Whipp'd  with  us  in  our  Patent ;  and  truly,  to 
tell  you  plainly,  that  the  Whipping  of  them 
with  that  Cruelty,  as  some  have  been  Whipp'd, 
and  their  Patience  under  it,  hath  sometimes  been 
the  Occasion  of  gaining  more  Adherence  to  them, 
than  if  they  had  suffered  them  openly  to  have 
preached  a  Sermon. 

Also  another  Law,  —  That  if  there  be  a  Qua- 
ker Meeting  any  where  in  this  Colony,  the  Party 
in  whose  House,  or  on  whose  Ground  it  is,  is 
to  pay  Forty  Shillings  ;  the  Preaching  Quaker 
Forty  Shillings;  every  Hearer  Forty  Shillings: 
Yea,  and  if  they  have  Meetings,  tho'  nothing  be 
spoken,  when  they  so  meet,  which  they  say,  so 
it  falls  out  sometimes  —  Our  last  Law,  —  That 
now  they  are  to  be  apprehended,  and  carried  be- 
fore a  Magistrate,  and  by  him  committed  to  be 
kept  close  Prisoners,  until  they  will  promise  to 
depart,  and  never  come  again ;  and  will  also  pay 
their  Fees  —  (which  I  perceive  they  will  do  nei- 
ther the  one  nor  the  other)  and  they  must  be 
kept  only  with  the  Counties  Allowance,  which  is 


APPENDIX.  165 

but  small  (namely,  Course  Bread  and  Water.)  No 
Friend  may  bring  them  anything  ;  none  may  be 
permitted  to  speak  with  them  ;  Nay,  if  they  have 
Money  of  their  own,  they  may  not  make  use  of 
that  to  relieve  themselves.  — 

In  the  Massachusets  (namely,  Boston  Colony) 
after  they  have  Whipp'd  them,  and  cut  their  Ears, 
they  have  now,  at  last,  gone  the  furthest  step 
they  can  :  They  Banish  them  upon  pain  of 
Death,  if  ever  they  come  there  again.  We  ex- 
pect that  we  must  do  the  like  ;  we  must  Dance 
after  their  Pipe  :  Now  Plimouth-Saddle  is  on  the 
Bay-Horse  (viz,  Boston)  we  shall  follow  them  on 
the  Career  :  For,  it  is  well  if  in  some  there  be  not 
a  Desire  to  be  their  Apes  and  Imitators  in  all 
their  Proceedings  in  things  of  this  Nature.  All 
these  Carnal  and  Antichristian  Ways  being  not 
of  God's  Appointment,  effect  nothing  as  to  the 
Obstructing  or  Hiudring  of  them  in  their  Way 
or  Course.  It  is  only  the  Word  and  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  that  is  able  to  Convince  Gainsayers : 
They  are  the  Mighty  Weapons  of  a  Christian's 
Warfare,  by  which  Great  and  Mighty  Things 
are  done  and  accomplished.  They  have  many 
Meetings,  and  many  Adherents,  almost  the  whole 
Town  of  Sandwich  is  adhering  towards  them ; 
and,  give  me  leave  a  little  to  acquaint  you  with 
their  Sufferings,  which  is  Grievous  unto,  and  Sad- 
dens the  Hearts  of  most  of  the  Precious  Saints 
of  God ;  It  lies  down  and  rises  up  with  them, 
and  they  cannot  put  it  out  of  their  Minds,  to  fee 
and  hear  of  poor  Families  deprived  of  their  Com- 


166  APPENDIX. 

forts,  and  brought  into  Penury  and  "Want  (you 
may  say,  By  what  Means  ?  And,  to  what  End  ?) 
As  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge  of  the  End,  It  is  to 
force  them  from  their  Homes  and  lawful  Habi- 
tations, and  to  drive  them  out  of  their  Coasts. 
The  Massachusets  hath  Banish'd  Six  of  their  In- 
habitants, to  be  gone  upon  pain  of  Death  ;  and  I 
wish  that  Blood  be  not  shed :  But  our  poor  Peo- 
ple are  pillaged  and  plundered  of  their  Goods ; 
and  haply,  when  they  have  no  more  to  satisfie 
their  unsatiable  Desire,  at  last  may  be  forced  to 
flee,  and  glad  they  have  their  Lives  for  a  Prey. 

As  for  the  Means  by  which  they  are  impover- 
ished ;  These  in  the  first  place  were  Scrupulous 
of  an  Oath ;  why  then  we  must  put  in  Force  an 
Old  Law,  —  That  all  must  take  the  Oath  of 
Fidelity.  —  This  being  tendered,  they  will  not 
take  it ;  and  then  we  must  add  more  Force  to 
the  Law  ;  and  that  is,  —  If  any  Man  refuse,  or 
neglect  to  take  it  by  such  a  time,  he  shall  pay 
Five  Pounds,  or  depart  the  Colony.  —  When 
the  time  is  come,  they  are  the  same  as  they 
were ;  Then  goes  out  the  Marshal,  and  fetcheth 
away  their  Cows  and  other  Cattle.  AVell,  an- 
other Court  comes,  They  are  required  to  take 
the  Oath  again,  —  They  cannot  —  Then  Five 
Pounds  more :  On  this  Account  Thirty  F'ive 
Head  of  Cattle,  as  I  have  been  credibly  in- 
formed, hath  been  by  the  Authority  of  our 
Court  taken  fi'om  them  the  latter  part  of  this 
Summer  ;  and  these  People  say,  —  If  they  have 
more  right  to  them,  than  themselves,  Let  them 


APPENDIX.  167 

take  them.  —  Some  that  had  a  Cow  only,  some 
Two  Cows,  some  Three  Cows,  and  many  small 
Children  in  their  Families,  to  whom,  in  Summer 
time,  a  Cow  or  Two  was  the  greatest  Outward 
Comfort  they  had  for  their  Subsistance.  A  poor 
Weaver  that  hath  Seven  or  Eight  small  Chil- 
dren (I  know  not  which)  he  himself  Lame  in 
his  Body,  had  but  Two  Cows,  and  both  taken 
from  him,  The  Marshal  asked  him.  What  he 
would  do  ?  He  must  have  his  Cows.  The  Man 
said,  —  That  God  that  gave  him  them,  he 
doubted  not,  but  would  still  provide  for  him.  — 
To  fill  up  the  Measure  yet  more  full,  tho'  to  the 
further  emptying  of  Sandwich-Men  of  their  out- 
ward Comforts.  The  last  Court  oi  Assistants, 
the  first  Tuesday  of  this  Instant,  the  Court  was 
pleased  to  determine  Fines  on  Sandwich-Men 
for  Meetings,  —  sometimes  on  First  Days  of  the 
Week,  sometimes  on  other  Days,  as  they  say : 
They  meet  ordinarily  twice  in  a  Week,  besides 
the  Lord's  Day,  —  One  Hundred  and  Fifty 
Founds,  whereof  W.  Newland  is  Twenty  Four 
Pounds,  for  himself  and  his  Wife,  at  Ten  Shil- 
lings a  Meeting.  W.  Allen  Forty  Six  Pounds, 
some  affirm  it  Forty  Nine  Pounds.  The  poor 
Weaver  afore  spoken  of,  Twenty  Pounds. 
Brother  Cook  told  me,  one  of  the  Brethren  at 
Barnstable  certified  him.  That  he  was  in  the 
Weaver's  House,  when  cruel  Barloe  (Sandwich 
Marshal)  came  to  demand  the  Sum,  and  said,  he 
was  fully  informed  of  all  the  poor  Man  had,  and 
thought,  if  all  lay  together,  it  was  not  worth  Ten 


168  APPENDIX. 

Pounds.  What  will  be  the  End  of  such  Courses 
and  Practices,  the  Lord  only  knows.  I  heartily 
and  earnestly  pray,  that  these,  and  such  like 
Courses,  neither  raise  up  among  us,  or  bring  in 
upon  us,  either  the  Sword,  or  any  devouring  Ca- 
lamity, as  a  just  Avenger  of  the  Lord's  Quarrel, 
for  Acts  of  Injustice  and  Oppression ;  and  that 
we  may  every  one  find  out  the  Plague  of  his  own 
Heart;  and  putting  away  the  Evil  of  his  own 
Doings,  and  meet  the  Lord  by  Entreaties  of 
Peace,  before  it  be  too  late,  and  there  be  no 
Remedy.  Our  Civil  Powers  are  so  exercised  in 
Things  appertaining  to  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  in 
Matters  of  Religion  and  Conscience,  that  we  can 
have  no  time  to  effect  anything  that  tends  to  the 
Promotion  of  the  Civil  "Weal,  or  the  Prosperity 
of  the  Place ;  but  now  we  must  have  a  State- 
Religion,  such  as  the  Powers  of  the  World  will 
allow,  and  no  other :  A  State-Ministry,  and  a 
State  way  of  Maintenance :  And  we  must  Wor- 
ship and  Serve  the  Lord  Jesus  as  the  World 
shall  appoint  us  :  We  must  all  go  to  the  publick 
Place  of  Meeting,  in  the  Parish  where  he  dwells, 
or  be  presented  ;  I  am  Informed  of  Three  or 
Fourscore  last  Court  presented,  for'not  coming  to 
publick  Meetings  ;  and  let  me  tell  you  how  they 
brought  this  about :  You  may  remember  a  Law 
once  made,  call'd  Thomas  Hinckley's  Law,  — 
That  if  any  neglected  the  Worship  of  God,  in 
the  Place  where  he  lives,  and  sets  up  a  Worship 
contrary  to  God,  and  the  Allowance  of  this  Gov- 
ernment, to  the  publick   Prophanation  of  God's 


APPENDIX.  169 

Holy  Day  and  Ordinance,  shall  pay  Ten  Shil- 
lings, —  This  Law  would  not  reach  what  then 
was  aimed  at :  Because  he  must  do  so  and  so ; 
that  is,  all  things  therein  expressed,  or  else 
hreak  not  the  Law.  In  March  last  a  Court  of 
Deputies  was  called,  and  some  Acts  touching 
Quakers  were  made ;  and  then  they  contrived  to 
make  this  Law  serviceable  to  them  ;  and  that 
was  by  putting  out  the  Word  [and]  and  putting 
in  the  Word  [or]  which  is  a  Disjunctive,  and 
makes  every  Branch  to  become  a  Law.  So 
now,  if  any  do  neglect,  or  will  not  come  to  the 
publick  Meetings,  Ten  Shillings  for  every  De- 
fect. Certainly  we  either  have  less  Wit,  or 
more  money,  than  the  Massachusets :  For,  for 
Five  Shillings  a  Day  a  Man  may  stay  away,  till 
it  come  to  Twelve  or  Thirteen  Pounds,  if  he 
had  it  but  to  pay  them.  And  these  Men  alter- 
ing this  Law  now  in  March,  yet  left  it  Dated, 
June  6.  1651.  and  so  it  stands  as  the  Act  of  a 
General  Court;  they  to  be  the  Authors  of  it 
Seven  Years  before  it  was  in  being ;  and  so  you 
yourselves  have  your  part  and  share  in  it,  if  the 
Recorder  lye  not.  But  what  may  be  the  Reason 
that  they  should  not  by  another  Law,  made  and 
dated  by  that  Court,  as  well  effect  what  was  in- 
tended, as  by  altering  a  Word,  and  so  the  whole 
Sense  of  the  Law ;  and  leave  this  their  Act  by 
the  Date  of  it  charged  on  another  Court's  Ac- 
count? Surely  the  Chief  Instruments  in  the 
Business,  being  privy  to  an  Act  of  Parliament 
for  Liberty,  should  too  openly  have  acted  repug- 


170  APPENDIX. 

nant  to  a  Law  of  England ;  but  if  they  can  do 
the  Thing,  and  leave  it  on  a  Court,  as  making  it 
Six  Years  before  the  Act  of  Parliament,  there 
can  be  no  danger  in  this.  And  that  they  were 
privy  to  the  Act  of  Parliament  for  Liberty,  to 
be  then  in  being,  is  evident,  That  the  Deputies 
might  be  free  to  act  it.  They  told  us,  That  now 
the  Protector  ^tood  not  engaged  to  the  Articles 
for  Liberty,  for  the  Parliament  had  now  taken 
the  Power  into  their  own  Hands,  and  had  given 
the  Protector  a  new  Oath,  Only  in  General,  to 
maintain  the  Protestant  Religion  ;  and  so  pro- 
duced the  Oath  in  a  Paper,  in  Writing;  whereas 
the  Act  of  Parliament  and  the  Oath,  are  both 
in  one  Book,  in  Print:  So  that  tliey  who  were 
privy  to  the  one,  could  not  be  Ignorant  of  the 
other.  But  still  all  is  well,  if  we  can  but  keep 
the  People  Ignorant  of  their  Liberties  and  Priv- 
iledges,  then  we  have  Liberty  to  Act  in  our  own 
Wills  what  we  please. 

We  are  wrapped  up  in  a  Labyrinth  of  Con- 
fused Laws,  that  the  Freemens  Power  is  quite 
gone  ;  and  it  was  said,  last  June  Court,  by  one,  — 
That  they  knew  nothing  the  Freemen  had  there 
to  do.  Sandwich-Men  may  not  go  to  the  Bay, 
lest  they  be  taken  up  for  Quakers :  W.  Newland 
was  there  about  his  Occasions  some  Ten  Days 
since,  and  they  put  him  in  Prison  Twenty  Four 
Hours,  and  sent  for  divers  to  Witness  against 
him ;  but  they  had  not  Proof  enough  to  make 
him  a  Quaker,  which  if  they  had,  he  should  have 
been   Whipp'd :    Nay,    they  may  not  go  about 


APPENDIX.  171 

their  Occasions  in  other  Towns  in  our  Colony, 
but  Warrants  lie  in  Ambusli  to  Apprehend  and 
bring  them  before  a  Magistrate,  to  give  an  Ac- 
count of  their  Business.  Some  of  the  Quakers 
in  Rhode-Island  came  to  bring  them  Goods,  to 
Trade  with  them,  and  that  for  far  Reasonabler 
Terms,  than  the  Professing  and  Oppressing  Mer- 
chants of  the  Country  ;  but  that  will  not  be  suf- 
fered :  So  that  unless  the  Lord  step  in,  to  their 
Help  and  Assistance,  in  some  way  beyond  Man's 
Conceiving,  their  Case  is  sad,  and  to  be  pitied : 
and  truly  it  moves  Bowels  of  Compassion  in  all 
sorts,  except  those  in  place,  who  carry  it  with  a 
high  Hand  towards  them.  Through  Mercy  we 
have  yet  among  us  worthy  Mr.  Dunstar,  whom 
the  Lord  hath  made  boldly  to  bear  Testimony 
against  the  Spirit  of  Persecution. 

Our  Bench  now  is,  Tho.  Prince,  Governour ; 
Mr.  Collier,  Capt.  Willet,  Capt.  Winslow,  Mr. 
Alden,  Lieut.  South  worth,  W.  Bradford,  Tho. 
Hinckley.  Mr.  Collier  last  June  would  not  sit 
on  the  Bench,  if  1  sate  there  ;  and  now  will  not 
sit  the  next  Year,  unless  he  may  have  Thirty 
Pounds  sit  by  him.  Our  Court  and  Deputies  last 
June  made  Capt.  Winslow  a  Major.  Surely  we 
are  all  Mercenary  Soldiers,  that  must  have  a 
Major  imposed  upon  us.  Doubtless  the  next 
Court  they  may  choose  us  a  Governour  and  As- 
sistants also.  A  Freeman  shall  need  to  do  noth- 
ing but  bear  such  Burdens  as  are  laid  upon  him. 
Mr.  Alden  hath  deceived  the  Expectations  of 
many,  and  indeed  lost  the  Affeclions  of  such,  as 


172  APPENDIX. 

I  judge  were  his  Cordial  Cliristian  Friends  ;  who 
is  very  active  in  such  Ways,  as  I  pray  God  may 
not  be  Charged  on  him,  to  be  Oppressions  of  a 
High  Nature. 

THE  STORY  OF  HORED  GARDXER.i 
Hored  Gardner,  who  being  the  Motlier  of 
many  Children,  and  an  Inhabitant  of  Newport 
in  Rhode-Island,  came  with  her  Babe  sucking  at 
lier  Breast,  from  thence  to  Weymoutli  (a  Town 
in  your  Colony)  where  having  finished  what  she 
had  to  do,  and  her  Testimony  from  the  Lord, 
unto  which  the  Witness  of  God  answered  in  the 
People,  she  was  hurried  by  the  baser  sort  to 
Boston,  before  your  Governour,  John  Endicot, 
who  after  he  had  entertained  her  with  much 
abusive  Language,  and  the  Girl  that  came  with 
her,  to  help  bear  her  Child,  he  committed  them 
both  to  Prison,  and  Ordered  them  to  be 
whipp'd  with  Ten  Lashes  a-piece,  which  was 
cruelly  laid  on  their  Naked  Bodies,  with  a  three- 
fold-knotted-Whip  of  Cords,  and  then  were  con- 
tinued for  the  space  of  Fourteen  Days  longer  in 
Prison,  from  their  Friends,  who  could  not  Visit 
them.  The  Women  came  a  very  sore  Journey, 
and  (according  to  Man)  hardly  accomplisliable, 
through  a  Wilderness  of  above  Sixty  Miles,  be- 
tween Rhode-Island  and  Boston  ;  and  being  kept 
up,  after  your  Cruel  Usage  of  their  Bodies,  might 
have  died ;  but  you  had  no  Consideration  of  this, 
or  of  them,  tho'  the  Mother  had  of  you,  who  after 
1  Reported  in  New  England  Judged,  pp.  60,  Gl. 


APPENDIX.  173 

the  Savage,  Inhumaue  and  Bloody  Execution  on 
her,  of  your  Cruelty  aforesaid,  kneeled  down, 
and  Prayed  —  The  Lord  to  Forgive  you  — 
which  so  reached  upon  a  Woman  that  stood  by, 
and  wrought  upon  her,  that  she  gave  Glory  to 
God,  and  said,  —  That  surely  she  could  not  have 
done  that  thing,  if  it  had  not  been  by  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord,—  11th  of  3d  Month,  1658. 


RECAPITULATION    OF   THE    SUFFERINGS   OF 
LAURENCE  AND  CASSANDRA  SOUTHICK.i 

First,  while  members  of  their  Church,  they 
were  both  imprisoned  for  entertaining  strangers, 
Christopher  Holder  and  John  Copeland,  a  Chris- 
tian duty,  which  the  apostle  to  the  Hebrews  ad- 
vises not  to  be  unmindful  of.  And  after  seven 
weeks  imprisonment,  Cassandra  was  fined  40s. 
for  owning  a  paper  written  by  the  aforesaid 
persons.  Next  for  absenting  from  the  public 
worship  and  owning  the  Quakers'  doctrine.  On 
the  information  of  one  captain  Hawthorn,  they 
with  their  son  Josiah  were  sent  to  the  house  of 
correction,  and  whipped  in  the  coldest  season  of 
the  year,  and  at  the  same  time  Hawthorn  issued 
his  warrant  to  distrain  their  goods  for  absence 
from  their  public  worship,  whereby  there  were 
taken  from  them  cattle  to  the  value  of  AL  15s. 
Again  they  were  imprisoned  with  others  for  be- 
ing at  a  meeting,  and  Cassandra  was  again 
whipped  and  upon  their  joint  letter  to  the  magis- 

1  Gough's  History  of  the  Quaktjs,  vol.  i.  pp.  379-38L 


174  APPENDIX. 

trates  before  recited  the  other  appellants  were 
released,  but  this  family,  although  they  with  the 
rest  had  suffered  the  penalty  of  their  cruel  law 
fully,  were  arbitrarily  detained  in  prison  to  their 
great  loss  and  damage,  being  in  the  season  of 
the  year  when  their  affairs  most  immediately  de- 
manded their  attendance.  While  they  were  in 
{)rison,  William  Maston  coming  through  Salem 
in  his  way  to  Boston,  brought  them  some  pro- 
visions from  home,  for  which  he  was  committed 
to  prison,  and  kept  there  fourteen  days  in  the 
cold  winter  season,  though  about  seventy  years 
of  age.  And  last  of  all  were  banished  upon  pain 
of  death  by  a  law  made  while  they  were  impris- 
oned, and  consequently  against  which  they  had 
not  offended  ;  Thus  spoiled  of  their  property, 
deprived  of  their  liberty,  driven  into  banish- 
ment, and  in  jeopardy  of  their  lives,  for  no  other 
crime  than  meeting  apart,  and  dissenting  from 
the  established  worship,  the  sufferings  of  this  in- 
offensive aged  couple  ended  only  with  their  lives. 
But  the  multiplied  injuries  of  this  harmless 
pair  were  not  sufficient  to  gratify  that  thirst  of 
vengeance  which  stimulated  these  persecutors, 
while  any  member  of  the  family  remained  unmo- 
lested :  During  their  detention  in  prison,  they 
left  at  home  a  son  and  daughter  named  Daniel 
and  Provided ;  these  children,  not  deterred  by 
the  unchristian  treatment  of  their  parents  and 
brother,  felt  themselves  rather  encouraged  to  fol- 
low their  steps,  and  relinquish  the  assemblies  of 
a  people  whose  religion  was  productive  of  such 


APPENDIX.  175 

relentless  persecution,  for  their  absence  from 
which  they  were  fined  10/.  though  it  was  well 
known  they  had  no  estate,  their  parents  having 
been  reduced  to  poverty  by  repeated  fines  and 
extravagant  distraints;  wherefore  to  satisfy  the 
fine,  they  were  ordered  to  be  sold  for  bond-slaves 
by  the  following  mandate  :  "  — 

Att  a  Generall  Court  of  Election,  held  at  Boston, 
UthofMay,  1659.^ 

COUNTY     TREASUKER     AUTHORIZED     TO     SELL 
QUAKERS. 

Whereas  Daniell  and  Provided  Southwicke, 
Sonne  &  daughter  to  Lawrence  Southwicke,  haue 
binn  fyned  by  the  County  Courts  at  Salem  & 
Ipswich,  ptending  they  haue  no  estates,  resolving 
not  to  worke,  and  others  likewise  haue  binn 
fyned,  «fe  more  like  to  be  fyned,  for  siding  w***  the 
Quakers  &  absenting  themselves  from  the  pub- 
licke  ordinances,  —  in  ans""  to  a  quojstion,  what 
course  shall  be  taken  for  the  sattisfaction  of  the 
fines,  the  Court,  on  pervsall  of  the  lawe,  title 
Arrests,  resolve,  that  the  Tresurers  of  the  seu- 
erall  countjes  are  and  shall  hereby  be  impowred 
to  sell  the  sajd  persons  to  any  of  the  English  na- 
tion at  Virginia  or  Hai'badoes. 

Letter  of  Laurence  Southick  and  others?' 

This  to  the  Magistrates  at  the  Court  in  Salem. 
Friends, 

Whereas  it  was  your  pleasures  to  commit  us 

1  Mass.  Records,  vol.  iv.  part  I.  p.  366. 
^  New  Em/land  Judged,  pp.  74,  75. 


176  APPENDIX. 

whose  names  are  under-written,  to  the  house  of 
correction  in  Boston,  although  the  Lord,  the 
righteous  Judge  of  Heaven  and  Earth,  is  our 
witness  that  we  have  done  nothing  worthy  of 
stripes  or  of  bonds  ;  and  we  being  committed  by 
your  court  to  be  dealt  withal  as  the  law  provides 
for  foreign  Quakers,  as  ye  please  to  term  us  ;  and 
having  some  of  us  suffered  your  law  and  pleasures, 
now  that  which  we  do  expect  is,  That  whereas  we 
have  suffered  your  law,  so  now  to  be  set  free  by 
the  same  law  as  your  manner  is  with  strangers, 
and  not  to  put  us  iu  upon  the  account  of  one  law, 
and  execute  another  law  upon  us,  of  which  accord- 
ing to  your  own  manner  we  were  never  convicted, 
as  the  law  expresses:  If  you  had  sent  us  upon  the 
account  of  your  new  law,  we  should  have  expected 
the  jailer's  order  to  have  been  on  that  account, 
which  that  it  was  not,  appears  by  the  warrant 
which  we  have,  and  the  punishment  which  we 
bare,  as  four  of  us  were  wliipped,  among  whom 
was  one  that  had  formerly  been  whipped  ;  so  now 
also,  according  to  your  former  law.  Friends,  let 
it  not  be  a  small  thing  in  your  eyes,  the  exposing, 
as  much  as  in  you  lies,  our  families  to  ruine. 
It's  not  unknown  to  you,  the  season  and  the  time 
of  the  year,  for  those  that  live  of  husbandry,  and 
what  their  cattle  and  families  may  be  exposed 
unto ;  and  also  such  as  live  on  trade :  We  know 
if  the  spirit  of  Christ  did  dwell  and  rule  in  you 
these  things  would  take  impression  on  your  spir- 
its. What  our  lives  and  conversations  have  been 
in  that  place  is  well  known  ;  and  what  we  now 


APPENDIX.  177 

suffer  for,  is  much  for  false  reports,  and  un- 
grounded jealousies  of  heresy  and  sedition.  These 
things  lie  upon  us  to  lay  before  you  :  As  for  our 
parts,  we  have  true  peace  and  rest  in  the  Lord  in 
all  our  sufferings,  and  are  made  willing  in  the 
power  and  strength  of  God,  freely  to  offer  up 
our  lives  in  this  cause  of  God,  for  which  we  suf- 
fer :  Yea,  and  we  do  find  (through  grace)  the 
enlargements  of  God  in  our  imprisoned  state,  to 
whome  alone  we  commit  ourselves  and  families, 
for  the  disposing  of  us  according  to  his  infinite 
wisdom  and  pleasure,  in  whose  love  is  our  rest 
and  life. 

Laurence   ^ 
Cassandra  >-Southick. 

JOSIAH  ) 

Samuel  Shattuck. 
Joshua  Buffum. 

From  the  house  of  hondage  in  Boston,  wherein  we  are 
made  captives  by  the  wills  of  men,  although  made  free 
by  the  Son.  John  8-36.  In  which  we  quietly  rest,  this 
16th  of  the  5™.  1658. 


A.  BRIEF  SKETCH  OF  THE  SUFFERINGS  OF 
ELIZABETH  HOOTEN,  AS  RELATED  IN 
SEWEL'S  HISTORY  OF  THE  QUAKERS, 
pp.  383-.385. 

The  usage  Elizabeth  Hooten  met  with,  I  can't 
pass  by  in  silence,  because  of  her  age,  being 
about  sixty,  who  hearing  of  the  wickedness  com- 
mitted by  those  of  New-England,  was  moved  to 
make  a  voyage  to  America. 

In  order  thereto  she  went  from  England  in  the 
12 


178  APPENDIX. 

year  1661,  having  one  Joan  Broksup  with  her,  a 
woman  near  as  aged  as  herself,  who  freely  re- 
solved to  be  her  companion :  and  because  they 
could  not  find  a  master  of  a  ship  that  was  willing 
to  carry  them  to  New-England,  because  of  the 
fine  for  every  Quaker  that  was  brought  thither, 
they  set  sail  towards  Virginia,  where  they  met 
with  a  ketch  which  carried  them  part  of  the  way, 
and  then  they  went  the  rest  by  land,  and  so  at 
length  came  to  Boston.  But  there  they  could 
not  soon  find  a  place  of  reception,  because  of  the 
penalty  on  those  that  received  a  Quaker  into 
their  houses.  Yet  at  length  a  woman  received 
them.  Next  day  they  went  to  the  prison  to  visit 
their  friends ;  but  the  gaoler  altogether  unwilling 
to  let  them  in,  carried  them  to  the  Governor  En- 
dicot,  who,  with  much  scurrilous  language,  called 
them  '  witches,'  and  asked  Elizabeth,  '  what  she 
came  for  ?  '  to  which  she  answered,  '  To  do  the 
will  of  him  that  sent  me.'  And  he  demanded, 
'  what  was  that  ? '  she  replied,  '  To  warn  thee 
of  shedding  any  more  innocent  blood.'  To 
which  he  returned,  '  that  he  would  hang  more 
yet ; '  but  she  told  him,  '  he  was  in  the  hand  of 
the  Lord,  who  could  take  him  away  first.'  This 
so  displeased  him,  that  he  sent  them  to  prison, 
where  many  more  of  their  friends  were.  After 
consultation  what  to  do  with  them,  they  were 
carried  two  days'  journey  into  the  wilderness, 
among  wolves  and  bears :  but  by  Providence  they 
got  to  Rhode-Island,  where  they  took  ship  for 
Barbados,  and   from   thence   to   New  -  England 


APPENDIX.  179 

agaiu,  and  so  they  returned  to  Boston.  But  then 
they  were  put  into  a  ship  which  carried  them  to 
Virginia,  from  whence  Elizabeth  departed  to  Old 
England,  where  she  staid  some  time  in  her  own 
habitation. 

But  it  came  upon  her  to  visit  New-England 
again  ;  and  so  she  did,  taking  her  daughter  Eliza- 
beth along  with  her.  And  being  arrived,  those 
of  the  magistrates  that  were  present,  would  have 
fined  the  master  of  the  ship  an  hundred  pounds 
for  bringing  her  over  contrary  to  their  law.  But 
he  telling  them,  that  Elizabeth  had  been  with 
the  king,  and  that  she  had  liberty  from  him  to 
come  thither  to  buy  her  a  house,  this  so  puzzled 
these  snarling  persecutors,  that  they  found  them- 
selves at  a  loss,  and  thus  were  stopped  from  seiz- 
ing the  master's  goods. 

Elizabeth  being  come  to  Boston,  notwithstand- 
ing the  rulers,  went  to  them,  and  signified  that  she 
came  thither  '  to  buy  a  house  for  herself  to  live 
in.'  She  was  four  times  at  the  court  for  that 
purpose,  but  it  was  denied  her  :  and  though  she 
said,  '  that  this  denial  would  give  her  occasion,  if 
she  went  to  England  again,  to  lay  it  before  the 
king,'  it  was  in  vain,  and  had  no  influence  upon 
them. 

Departing  then,  and  passing  through  several 
places,  she  came  to  Cambridge,  and  was  thrust 
into  a  stinking  dungeon,  where  there  was  nothing 
to  lie  down  on  or  sit  on.  Here  they  kept  her 
two  days  and  two  nights,  without  affording  her 
anything  to  eat  or  drink  ;  and  because  a  certain 


180  APPENDIX. 

man  in  compassion  brought  her  a  little  milk,  he 
was  also  cast  into  prison,  and  fined  five  pounds. 
Being  brought  to  the  court,  they  ordered  her 
to  be  sent  out  of  their  coasts,  and  to  be  whipped 
at  three  towns,  with  ten  stripes  at  each.  So  at 
Cambridge  she  was  tied  to  the  whipping-post,  and 
lashed  with  ten  stripes,  with  a  three  -  stringed 
whip,  with  three  knots  at  an  end :  At  Watertown 
she  had  ten  stripes  more  with  willow  rods ;  and 
to  make  up  all,  at  Dedham,  in  a  cold  frosty 
morning,  she  received  ten  cruel  lashes  at  a  cart's 
tail.  And  being  thus  beaten  and  torn,  she  was  put 
on  horse-back,  and  carried  many  miles  into  the 
wilderness  ;  and  towards  night  they  left  her  there, 
where  were  many  wolves,  bears,  and  other  wild 
beasts,  and  many  deep  waters  to  pass  through: 
but  being  preserved  by  an  invisible  hand,  she 
came  in  the  morning  into  a  town  called  Reho- 
both,  being  neither  weary  nor  faint ;  and  from 
thence  she  went  to  Rhode-Island,  where  coming 
to  her  friends,  she  gave  thanks  to  God,  for  hav- 
ing counted  her  worthy,  and  enabled  her  to  suf- 
fer for  his  name-sake,  beyond  what  her  age 
and  sex,  morally  speaking,  could  otherwise  have 
borne. 

After  some  stay  there,  she  returned  to  Cam- 
bridge, about  eighty  miles,  to  fetch  her  linen  and 
clothes,  which  the  inhuman  persecutors  would 
not  suffer  her  to  take  with  her  when  they  had 
whipped  her.  Having  fetched  these  things,  and 
going  back  with  her  daughter  and  Sarah  Cole- 
man, an  ancient  woman,  she  was  taken  up  by  the 


APPENDIX.  181 

constable  of  Charlestown,  and  carried  prisoner  to 
Cambridge  ;  where  being  asked  by  one  of  the 
naagistrates  whose  name  was  Daniel  Goggin, 
'  wherefore  she  came  thither,  seeing  they  had 
warned  her  not  to  come  there  any  more  : '  she 
answered,  '  that  she  came  not  there  of  her  own 
accord,  but  was  forced  thither ;  after  she  had 
been  to  fetch  her  clothes,  which  they  would  not 
let  her  take  with  her  when  she  was  whipped,  and 
sent  away  ;  but  that  now  returning  back  she  was 
taken  up  by  force  out  of  the  highway,  and  carried 
thither.'  Then  the  other  old  woman  was  asked, 
'  whether  she  owned  Elizabeth  and  her  religion  ?  ' 
to  which  she  answered,  '  she  owned  the  Truth.' 
And  of  Elizabeth's  daughter  he  demanded,  '  Dost 
thou  own  thy  mother's  religion  ?'  To  which  she 
was  silent.  And  yet  they  were  sent  to  the  house 
of  correction,  with  order  to  be  whipped.  Next 
morning  the  executioner  came  betimes  before  it 
was  light,  and  asked  them,  '  whether  they  would 
be  whipped  there  ? '  which  made  Elizabeth  ask, 
'  whether  he  was  come  to  take  away  their  blood 
in  the  dark  ?  '  and  '  whether  they  were  ashamed 
that  their  deeds  should  be  seen  : '  But  not  heed- 
ing what  she  said,  he  took  her  down  stairs,  and 
whipped  her  with  a  three-stringed  whip.  Then 
he  brought  down  the  ancient  woman,  and  did  the 
like  to  her.  And  taking  Elizabeth's  daughter 
he  gave  the  like  to  her  also,  who  never  was  there 
before,  nor  had  said  or  done  anything.  After 
this  Elizabeth  the  mother  was  whipped  again  at 
a  cart's-tail  at  Boston  and  other  places,  where  she 


182  APPENDIX. 

came  to  see  her  friends  ;  since  which  I  have  sev- 
eral times  seen  her  in  England  in  a  good  con- 
dition. 

ORDER   FOR    SENDING   QUAKERS   OUT   OF 
THE  JURISDICTION.! 

Jtt  is   Ordered   that  all   the   Quake'"s  now  in 

prison,    except   the    persons    Condemned    to  be 

whip'   be   acquainted    w""  the   new   lawe   made 

against  them  and  forthwith  released  from  prison 

and    sent  from    Constable  to    Constable   out  of 

this  Jurisdiction  and  Jf  they  or  any  of  them  be 

found  after  twelve  howres  w*in  the  same  he  or 

they  shall  be    proceeded    w"'  according    to  the 

lawe  made  this  present  Court.    The  mngis'^  haue 

past  this  w""  Reference  to  the  Consent  of  theire 

brethren  the  dep's  hereto 

Edw  Rawson   Secret 
7  June,  1661. 

The  Deputyes  Consent  hereto,  withall  Desire- 
ing  that  Browne  &  Peirson  may  ptake  of  the 
same  liberty  with  the  rest,  Desireing  o''  Hono''^ 
Magists  Consent  hereto 

The  magis*s  Consent  not  Edw  Rawson  Secret, 
but  Agree  y*  y''  2  psons  shall  only  be  whip*  at 
y^  Carts  tayle  in  Boston  not  exceeding  twenty 
stripes  &,  so  dischardged  w**"  y*^  Rest  if  theire 
brethren  the  Depu's  consent  hereto 

Edw  Rawson  Secret 
Consented  to  by  the  Deputyes 

Wm  Torrey  Cleric 
l  Massachusetts  Archives,  vol.  x.  p.  273. 


APPENDIX.  183 

This  order  was  issued  under  the  fear  of  inter- 
ference by  the  Crown. ^  Samuel  Shattuck,  who 
had  been  banished  upon  pain  of  death  if  he  re- 
turned, was  now  in  England,  and  with  others 
had  petitioned  the  King  to  "  restrain  the  vio- 
lence of  those  Rulers  of  New-England."  The 
petition  may  be  found  in  vol.  i.  of  Besse's  "  Col- 
lection of  Sufferings,"  where  it  is  given  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

A  Declaration  of  some  Part  of  the  Sufferings 
of  the  People  of  God  in  Scorn  called  Quakers, 
from  the  Professors  in  New-England,  only  for 
the  Exercise  of  their  Consciences  to  the  Lord, 
and  obeying  and  confessing  to  the  Truth,  as  ia 
his  Light  he  had  discovered  it  to  them. 

1.  Two  honest  and  innocent  Women  stripped 
stark  naked,  and  searched  after  such  an  inhuman 
manner,  as  modesty  will  not  permit  particularly 
to  mention. 

2.  Twelve  strangers  in  that  Country,  but  free- 
born  of  this  Nation,  received  Twenty-three  Whip- 
pings, the  most  of  them  being  with  a  Whip   of 

Three  Cords  with  Knots  at  the  Ends,  and  laid  on 
with  as  much  Strength  as  could  be  by  the  Arm 
of  their  Executioner,  the  Stripes  amounting  to 
Three  Hundred  and  Seventy. 

3.  Eighteen  Inhabitants  of  the  Country,  being 
free-born  English,  received  Twenty  three  Whip- 
pings, the  Stripes  amounting  to  Two  Hundred 
and  Fifty. 

4.  Sixty  Four  Imprisonments  of    the    Lord's 
1  Sewel,  Besse,  and  others,  coulirm  this  statement. 


184  APPENDIX. 

People,  for  their  Obedience  to  his  Will,  amount- 
ing to  Five  Hundred  and  Nineteen  Weeks,  much 
of  it  being  very  cold  Weather,  and  the  Inhabit- 
ants kept  in  Prison  in  Harvest-time,  which  was 
very  much  to  their  Loss  ;  besides  many  more 
imprisoned,  of  which  Time  we  cannot  give  a 
just-Account. 

5.  Two  beaten  with  Pitched  Ropes,  the  blows 
amounting  to  an  Hundred  and  Thirty  nine,  by 
which  one  of  them  was  brought  near  unto  Death, 
much  of  his  Body  being  beaten  like  unto  a  Jelly, 
and  one  of  their  Doctors,  a  Member  of  their 
Church,  who  saw  him,  said.  It  icould  be  a  Mira- 
cle if  ever  he  recovered,  he  expecting  the  Flesh 
should  rot  off  the  Bones,  who  afterwards  was 
banished  upon  pain  of  Death.  There  are  many 
Witnesses  of  this  there. 

6.  Also  an  Innocent  Man,  an  Inhabitant  of 
Boston,  they  banished  from  his  Wife  and  Chil- 
dren, and  put  to  seek  an  Habitation  in  the 
Winter,  and  in  Case  he  returned  again,  he  was 
to  be  kept  Prisoner  during  his  Life,  and  for  re- 
turning again  he  was  put  in  Prison,  and  hath 
been  now  a  Prisoner  above  a  year. 

7.  Twenty  Five  Banishments  upon-  the  Penal- 
ties of  being  whipt,  or  having  their  Ears  cut,  or 
branded  in  the  Hand,  if  they  returned. 

8.  Fines  laid  upon  the  Inhabitants  for  meet- 
ing together,  and  edifying  one  another,  as  the 
Saints  ever  did ;  and  for  refusing  to  Swear,  it 
being  contrary  to  Christ's  Command,  amounting 
to  about  a  Thousand  Pounds,  beside  what  they 


APPENDIX.  185 

have  done  since  that  we  have  not  heard  of,  many 
Families,  in  which  there  are  many  Children,  are 
almost  ruined  by  their  unmerciful  Proceedings. 

9.  Five  kept  Fifteen  Days  in  all,  loithout 
Food.,  and  Fifty  Fight  Days  shut  up  close  by 
the  Gaoler,  and  had  none  that  he  knew  of  ;  and 
from  some  of  them  he  stopt  up  the  Windows, 
hindring  them  from  convenient  Air. 

10.  One  laid  Neck  and  Heels  in  Irons  for  Six- 
teen Hours. 

11.  One  very  deeply  burnt  in  the  RigJit-Hand 
with  the  Letter  (H)  after  he  had  been  whipt 
with  above  Tliirty  Stripes. 

12.  One  chained  to  a  Log  of  Wood  the  most. 
Part  of  Twenty^  Days,  in  an  open  Prison,  in  the 
Wixitfiritirn,e- 

13.  Five  Appeals  to  England  denied  at  Bos- 
ton. . 

14.  Three   had    their    Right    Ears  cut  by   the 
Hangman  in  the  Prison,  the  Door  being  barred, 
and  not  a  Friend  suffered  to  be  present  while  it  I 
was  doing,  though  some  much  desired  it. 

15.  One  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Salem,  who 
since  is  banished  upon  Pain  of  Death,  had  one 
Half  of  his  House  and  Land  seized  on  while  he 
loas  in  Prison,  a  Month  before  he  knew  of  it. 

16.  At  a  General  Court  in  Boston  they  made 
an  Order,  That  those  who  had  not  ivhere-witliall 
to  answer  the  Fines  that  were  laid  upon  them 
for  their  Consciences,  should  be  sold  for  Bond- 
men and  Bondwomen  to  Barbadoes,  Virginia,  or 
any  of  the  English  Plantations. 


186  APPENDIX. 

17.  Eighteen  of  the  People  of  God  were  at 
several  Times  banished  upon  pain  of  Death;  six 
of  them  were  their  own  Inhabitants,  two  of 
which  being  very  aged  People,  and  well  known 
among  their  Neighbours  to  be  of  honest  Conver- 
sation, being  banished  from  their  Houses  and 
Families,  and  put  upon  Travelling  and  other 
Hardships,  soon  ended  their  Days,  whose  Death 
we  can  do  no  less  than  charge  upon  the  Rulers 
of  Boston,  they  being  the  Occasion  of  it. 

18.  Also  Three  of  the  Servants  of  the  Lord 
they  put  to  Death,  all  of  them  for  Obedience  to 
the  Truth,  in  the  Testimony  of  it,  against  the 
Wicked  Rulers  and  Laws  at  Boston. 

19.  And  since  they  have  banished  Four  more 
upon  Pain  of  Death,  and  Tioenty  Four  of  the 
Inhabitants  of  Salem  were  presented,  and  more 
Fines  called  for,  and  their  Goods  seized  on  to 
the  Value  of  Forty  Pounds  for  meeting  together 
in  the  Fear  of  God,  and  some  for  refusing  to 
Swear. 

These  Things,  O  King !  from  Time  to  Time 
have  we  patiently  suffered,  and  not  for  the 
Transgression  of  any  just  or  righteous  Law, 
either  pertaining  to  the  Worship  of  God,  or  the 
Civil  Government  of  England,  but  simply  and 
barely  for  our  Consciences  to  God,  of  which  we 
can  more  at  large  give  thee,  or  whom  thou 
mayst  order,  a  full  account  (if  thou  will  let  us 
have  Admission  to  thee,  who  are  banished  upon 
Pain  of  Death,  and  have  had  our  Ears  cut,  who 
are  some  of  us  in  England  attending  upon  thee) 


APPENDIX.  187 

both  of  the  Causes  of  our  Sufferings,  and  the 
Manner  of  their  disorderly  and  illegal  Proceedings 
against  lis ;  they  began  with  Immodesty,  went 
on  in  Inhumanity  and  Cruelty,  and  were  not 
satisfied  until  they  had  the  Blood  of  Three  of  the 
Martyrs  of  Jesus  :  Revenge  for  all  which  we  do 
not  seek,  but  lay  them  before  thee,  considering 
thou  hast  been  well  acquainted  with  Sufferings, 
and  so  mayst  the  better  consider  them  that  suf- 
fer, and  mayst  for  the  future  restrain  the  Vio- 
lence of  these  Rulers  of  New-England,  having 
Power  in  thy  Hands,  they  being  but  the  Chil- 
dren of  the  Family  of  which  thou  art  Chief 
Ruler,  who  have  in  divers  their  Proceedings  ybr- 
feited  their  Patent,  as  upon  strict  Enquiry  in 
many  Particulars  will  appear. 

And  this,  O  King !  we  are  assured  of,  that  in 
Time  to  come  it  will  not  repent  thee,  if  by  a 
close  Rebuke  thou  stoppest  the  Bloody  Proceed- 
ings of  these  Bloody  Persecutors,  for  in  so  doing 
thou  wilt  engage  the  Hearts  of  many  honest 
People  unto  thee  both  there  and  here,  and  for 
such  Works  of  Mercy  the  Blessing  is  obtained ; 
and  showing  it  is  the  Way  to  prosper :  We  are 
Witnesses  of  these  Things,  who 

Besides  many  long  Imprisonments,  and  many 
cruel  Whippings,  had  our  Ears  cut, 

John  Rouse 
John  Copeland. 

Besides  many  long  Imprisonments,  divers  cruel 
Whippings,  with  the  seizing  on  our   Goods,  are 


188  APPENDIX. 

banished  upon  Pain  of  Death,  aud  some  of  us 
do  wait  here  ia  England,  and  desire  that  we  may 
have  an  Order  to  return  in  Peace  to  our  Fam- 
ilies, 

Samuel  Shattock        Josiah  Southick 
Nicholas  Phelps        Joseph  Nicholson 
Jane  Nicholson 

Commenting  upon  the  above  petition,  Besse 
says  :  — 

"  This  representation  of  their  case  to  the  King, 
with  the  earnest  and  incessant  solicitations  of  Ed- 
ward Burrough,  and  others,  on  their  behalf,  pro- 
cured a  Mandamus  from  that  Monarch  by  wliich 
an  effectual  stop  was  put  to  the  proceedings  in 
New-England  of  putting  men  to  death  for  Relig- 
ion, by  which  their  blind  zeal  and  fury  would 
otherwise  probably  have  destroyed  many  inno- 
cent people.  Nevertheless  they  yet  continued 
by  cruel  whippings,  and  other  barbarities  to  de- 
monstrate that  they  repented  not  of  their  former 
cruelty,  but  that  they  were  restricted  by  force  of 
the  Kings  authority,  and  not  from  any  alteration 
in  their  own  tempers  or  inclinations,  as  will 
plainly  appear  by  the  narrative  of  their  proceed- 
ings." 

It  is  probable  that  Besse  is  not  entirely  accu- 
rate in  stating  that  the  presentation  of  this  peti- 
tion "  procured  a  Mandamus,"  though  it  doubtless 
prepared  the  way  for  one.  When  it  was  presented 
the  news  of  the  execution  of  Leddra  at  Boston 
had  not  reached    England.     Sewel,   who   is  an 


APPENDIX.  189 

earlier  authority  than  Besse,  states  that  the  king 
had  seen  a  copy  of  George  Bishop's  account  of 
the  "cruel  persecution,"  and  was  so  much  af- 
fected by  it  that  he  resolved  to  interfere.  His 
resolve  was  soon  after  confirmed  by  the  "  news 
of  William  Leddra's  deatli."  Edward  Bnrrough 
having  obtained  an  audience,  said  to  the  king, 
"There  was  a  vein  of  innocent  blood  opened  in 
his  dominions,  which  if  it  were  not  stopped, 
would  overrun  all."  To  which  he  replied,  "  But 
I  will  stop  that  vein."  The  Mandamus  was 
granted  forthwith,  and  Shattuck  was  empowered 
to  carry  it  to  Boston.  Whittier's  poem,  "  The 
King's  Missive,"  makes  it  unnecessary  to  repeat 
here  a  detailed  account  of  Shattuck's  arrival,  for 
this  poem  is,  or  should  be,  in  every  American 
household.  The  reception  of  the  Missive  by 
the  Massachusetts  authorities  placed  them  in  a 
dilemma.  They  dare  not  obey  the  command  to 
send  the  prisoners  to  P^ngland  for  trial, ^  nor  could 
they  proceed  with  the  cases  in  their  own  court. 
There  was  but  one  course  left  by  which  they 
could  avoid  a  conflict  with  the  Crown.  Hither- 
to, gaol  deliveries  implied  scourging  and  banish- 
ment of*  Quaker  prisoners.  For  once,  it  was 
necessary  to  forego  these  pious  festivities.  Pros- 
ecution and  persecution  must  be  suspended  tem- 
porarily ;  such  Quakers  as  were  in  gaol  must  be 
set  at  liberty.  An  order  for  their  unconditional 
release  and  discharge  was   issued.     Sewel  gives 

1  Thfi  Quakers  had  repeatedly'  appealed  to  be  sent  to  Eng-  { 
land  for  trial. 


/ 


190  APPENDIX. 

» 

the  text  of  the  Royal  Mandamus,  and  the  or- 
der for  the  release  of  the  Friends,  as  follows :  — 

Charles  R. 

Trusty  and  Well-beloved,  We  Greet  you  well. 
Having  been  informed  that  several  of  Our  sub- 
jects amongst  you,  called  Quakers,  have  been, 
and  are  Imprisoned  by  you,  whereof  some  have 
been  Executed,  and  others  (as  hath  been  repre- 
sented unto  us)  are  in  danger  to  undergo  the 
like  :  we  have  thought  fit  to  signify  our  pleasure 
in  that  behalf,  for  the  future ;  and  do  hereby  re- 
quire, that  if  there  be  any  of  those  people  called 
Quakers  amongst  you,  now  already  condemned 
to  sufiPer  death,  or  other  corporal  punishment,  or 
that  are  imprisoned,  and  obnoxious  to  the  like 
condemnation,  you  are  to  forbear  to  proceed  any 
further  therein  ;  but  that  you  forthwith  send  the 
said  persons  (whether  condemned  or  imprisoned) 
over  into  this  our  kingdom  of  England,  together 
with  the  respective  crimes  or  offenses  laid  to 
their  charge ;  to  the  end  that  such  course  may  be 
taken  with  them  here,  as  shall  be  agreeable  to 
our  laws,  and  their  demerits.  And  for  so  doing, 
these  our  letters  shall  be  your  sufficienf  warrant 
and  discharge.  Gwen  at  our  court  at  Whitehall, 
the  9th  day  of  September,  1661,  m  the  13th  year 
of  our  reign. 

By  his  majesty's  command, 

William  Morris. 

The  superscription  was,   "  To  our  Trusty   and 


APPENDIX.  191 

Well-beloved,  John  Endicot,  Esq.  and  to  all  and 
every  other  the  governor,  or  governors,  of  our 
plantations  of  New-England,  and  of  all  the  col- 
onies thereunto  belonging,  that  now  are,  or  here- 
after shall  be ;  and  to  all  and  every  the  ministers 
and  officers  of  our  said  plantation  and  colonies 
whatsoever,  within  the  continent  of  New-Eng- 
land." 

Order  for    Release  and  Discharge   of  Quaker 
Priso7iers} 

"  To    William    Salter,   keeper    of  the   prison   at 

Boston : 

You  are  required  by  authority,  and  order  of 
the  general  court,  forthwith  to  release  and  dis- 
charge the  Quakers,  who  at  present  are  in  your 
custody.     See  that  you  don't  neglect  this. 

By  order  of  the  court. 

Edward  Rawson,  Secretary." 

Boston,  the  9th  of  December,  1661. 

A  Quaker  jubilation  ^  followed  this  gaol  deliv- 
ery, but  the  liberty  they  enjoyed  was  of  short  du- 
ration. Fear  of  further  interference  from  Eng- 
land having  been  allayed,^  the  law  of  May  22, 
1661,  with  slight  modification,  was  reeiiacted. 
This  was  done  on  the  8th  of  October,  1662.  The 
fires  of  persecution  were  rekindled.  John  Endi- 
cott  pursued  the  Friends  with  relentless  cruelty 
until,  in  March,  1665,  death  ended  his  wicked 
and  bloody  career. 

1  Sewel,  p.  321.     ,  2  Bessp,  vol.  ii.  p.  22G. 

8  See  the  king's  letter,  .June  28, 1662,  authorizing  "sharpc 
lawes,"  etc.,  Mass.  Records,  vol.  iv.  part  II.  pp.  164-166. 


192  APPENDIX. 

Bellingham  succeeded  Endicott,  but  was  less 
persistent,  and  instances  of  cruelty,  under  his  ad- 
ministration, are  not  numerous.  His  clemency 
was  due  in  part  to  the  interference  of  royal  com- 
missioners, who,  on  the  24th  of  May,  1G65,  sub- 
mitted a  series  uf  demands  to  the  General  Court, 
one  of  which  was,  that  the  Quakers  should  be 
allowed  to  attend  to  their  secular  business  with- 
out molestation.^  Bellingham  died  in  December, 
1672.  In  November,  1675,  persecution  was  re- 
vived by  the  passage  of  a  law  prohibiting  Qua- 
ker meetings,^  and  iu  May,  1677,  it  was  further 
provided,  that  the  constables  should  "  make  dili- 
gent search "  for  such  meetings,  and  should 
"  break  open  any  door  where  peaceable  entrance 
is  denied  them."  ^  For  a  brief  period  it  seemed 
as  if  the  scenes  of  1661  and  1662  were  to  be  re- 
enacted.  Men  and  women  were  seized,  dragged 
to  gaol,  imprisoned,  fed  on  bread  and  water, 
fined,  and  publicly  whipped.  In  the  6th  month 
(August)  ftnii'teeti  Quakers  were  taken  at  one 
meeting,  and  in  the  following  week  a  second  ar- 
rest of  fifteen  was  made.  Most,  if  not  all  of 
them,  in  addition  to  other  punishment,  suffered 
flogging  at  the  whipping  post.  These  are  the 
latest  cases  of  corporal  punishment  noted  by 
Besse.  The  Friends  rallied  iu  increasing  num- 
bers and  once  more  the  authorities  were  forced 
to  respect  their  rights.  It  was  during  this  period 
of  excitement  that  Margaret    Brewster  was  ap- 

1  Mass.  Records,  vol.  iv.  part  II.  p.  212. 

2  Ibid.  vol.  V.  p.  60.  3  jbld.  p.  134. 


APPENDIX.  193 

prehended  for  the  performance  of  an  act  which, 
however  peculiar  or  fanatical  it  may  be  consid- 
ered, was  refined  and  dignified  as  compared  with 
the  brutal  indecency  of  the  Court  when  she  was 
on  trial.  The  following  report  of  the  trial  will 
well  repay  the  reading.  It  is  worth  remarking 
that  while  Margaret  Brewster  furnishes  Puritan 
apologists  with  most  productive  capital,  no  one 
of  them  has  yet  acknowledged  the  obligation  by 
naming  the  cause  of  her  performance,  the  cir- 
cumstances attending  it,  the  conduct  of  her 
judges,  or  the  punishment  meted  out  to  her. 

Trial,  or  Examination,  of   Margaret  Brewster, 

and  others,  at  the  Court  in  Boston,  on  the  4th 

of  the  Sixth  Month,  1677.^ 

Clerk.  Margaret  Brewster 

M.  B.  Here. 

Clerk.  Are  you  the  "Woman  ? 

M.  B.  Yes,  I  am  the  Woman. 

Governour.'^  Read  the  Mittimus. 

The  Mittimus  was  read, 

Governour,  to  the  People.  What  have  you  to 
lay  to  her  Charge  ? 

Constable.  If  this  be  the  Woman,  I  don't 
know  ;  for  she  was  then  in  the  Shape  of  a  Devil : 
I  thought  her  hair  had  been  a  Perriwigg,  but  it 
was  her  own  Hair. 

The  Constable  said  more,  but  so  faintly  and 
low  as  not  to  be  understood. 

1  Besse,  vol.  ii.  pp.  261-265. 

2  John  Leverett. 

13 


194  APPENDIX. 

Gov.  You  hear  your  Accusation. 

M.  B.  I  do  not  hear  it. 

Gov.  Are  you  the  Woman  that  came  mto  Mr. 
Thatcher's  Meeting-house  with  your  Hair  fru- 
zled,  and  dressed  in  the  Shape  of  a  Devil  ? 

M.  B.  1  am  the  Woman  that  came  into  Priest 
Thatclier's  House  of  Worship  with  my  Hair 
about  my  Shoulders,  Ashes  upon  my  Head,  my 
Face  coloui'ed  black,  and  Sackcloth  upon  my 
upper  Garments. 

Goi\  You  own  yourself  to  be  the  Woman. 

31.  B.  Yea,  I  do. 

Gov.   What  made  you  come  so  ? 

M.  B.  I  came  in  Obedience  to  the  Lord. 

Gov.  The  Lord !  The  Lord  never  sent  you,  for 
you  came  like  a  Devil,  and  in  the  Shape  of  a 
Devil  incarnate. 

M.  B.  Noble  Governour !  Thy  Name  is 
spread  in  other  Parts  of  the  World  for  a  mod- 
erate Man,  now  I  desire  thee  and  thy  Assistants 
to  hear  me  with  Patience,  that  I  may  give  an  Ac- 
count of  my  so  coming  among  you. 

Gov.  Too  moderate  for  such  as  you :  But  go 
on. 

M.  B.  The  Lord  God  of  Heaven  and  Earth, 
the  Maker  and  Creator  of  all  Man  kind,  laid  this 
Service  upon  me  more  than  three  Years  ago  to 
visit  this  bloody  Town  of  Boston. 

Here  some  spake  to  the  Governour  to  stop  her 
from  speaking  any  more  ;  but  the  Governour 
said.  Let  her  go  on. 

M.  B.  And   when   the    appointed  Time  drew 


APPENDIX.  195 

near,  the  Lord  pleased  to  visit  me  with  Sickness, 
before  I  could  clearly  give  up  to  this  Service, 
and  as  I  may  say,  I  was  raised  as  one  from  the 
Dead,  and  came  from  my  sick  Bed  to  visit  the 
bloody  Town  of  Boston,  and  to  bear  a  living  Tes- 
timony for  the  God  of  my  Life,  and  go  as  a  Sign 
among  you  ;  and  as  I  gave  up  to  this  Service,  my 
Sickness  went  away.  It  is  said  the  Prophet 
Jonah  was  three  Days  in  the  Whale's  Belly,  but 
I  could  compare  my  Condition  to  nothing,  but  as 
if  I  had  been  in  the  Belly  of  Hell  for  many 
AVeeks,  and  I  think  I  may  so  say  for  some 
Months,  until  I  gave  up  to  this  Service ;  and 
now  if  you  be  suffered  to  take  away  my  Life, 
I  am  very  well  contented. 

Gov.  You  shall  escape  with  your  Life. 

Simon  Broadstreet.  You  are  a  Blasphemer. 

M.  B.  \  have  not  blasphemed. 

*S'.  Broadstreet.  I  cannot  believe  what  you  say 
to  be  true. 

M.  B.  Canst  thou  not  believe?  Well,  I  am 
sorry  thou  canst  not  believe. 

Gov.  Are  you  a  married  Woman  ? 

M.B.\  am. 

Gov.  Did  your  Husband  give  Consent  to  your 
Coming? 

M.  B.  Yea,  he  did. 

Go>^.  Have  you  any  Thing  to  shew  under  his 
Hand? 

M.  B.  He  gave  his  Consent  before  many  Wit- 
nesses in  Barbadoes,  and  said,  He  did  believe  this 
Service  was  of  God,  and  he  durst  not  withstand 


196  APPENDIX. 

it,  but  was  willing  to  give  me  up  to  this  Ser- 
vice, :is  many  in  Barbadoes  can  witness ;  and 
now,  if  you  be  suffered  to  take  away  my  Life. 
I  can  now  lay  down  m)^  Head  in  Peace,  for  I 
have  thus  far  done  what  the  Lord  required  at  my 
Hands,  and  am  clear  of  the  Blood  of  all  Pejple 
in  this  Place,  so  far  as  I  know  ;  and  the  Desire 
of  my  Soul  is,  that  it  may  be  with  this  Town  as 
it  was  with  Nineveh  of  old,  for  when  the  Lord 
sent  his  Prophet  Jonah  to  cry  against  Nineveh, 
it  is  said,  They  put  on  Sackcloth,  and  covered 
their  Heads  with  Ashes,  and  repented,  and  the 
Lord  withdrew  his  Judgments  for  forty  Years  : 
And  my  Soul  cries  to  the  Lord  that  this  People 
may  repent,  that  the  Lord  may  spare  them  yet 
forty  Years  :  For  it  was  in  true  Obedience  to 
the  Lord,  and  in  Love  to  your  Souls,  that  I  was 
made  to  come  as  a  Sign  amongst  you,  for  I  feel 
that  in  my  Heart  at  this  Moment,  that  I  could 
even  give  up  my  Life,  to  be  sacrificed  for  the 
Good  of  your  Souls.  I  have  notliing  but  Love 
in  my  Heart  to  the  worst  of  my  Enemies  here  in 
this  Town. 

Gov.  Hold,  hold  "Woman,  you  run  too  fast. 
Silence  in  the  Court. 

M.  B.  Goveriiour !  I  desire  thee  to  hear  me  a 
little,  for  I  have  something  to  say  in  Behalf  of  my 
Friends  in  this  Place  :  I  desire  thee  and  thine 
Assistants  to  put  an  End  to  these  cruel  Laws  that 
you  have  made  to  prosecute  my  Friends  for  meet- 
ing together  to  worship  the  True  and  Living 
God.     Oh  Governour  !  I  cannot  but  press  thee 


APPENDIX.  197 

again  and  again,  to  put  an  End  to  these  cruel 
Laws  that  you  have  made  to  fetch  my  Friends 
from  their  peaceable  Meetings,  and  keep  them 
three  Days  in  tlie  House  of  Correction,  and  then 
whip  them  for  worsliipping  the  True  and  Living 
God  :  Governour !  Let  me  entreat  thee  to  put 
an  End  to  these  Laws,  for  the  Desire  of  my  Soul 
is,  that  you  may  act  for  God,  and  then  would  you 
prosper,  but  if  you  act  against  the  Lord  and  his 
blessed  Truth,  you  will  assuredly  come  to  noth- 
ing, the  Mouth  of  the  Lord  hath  spoken  it ,  for 
if  you  will  draw  your  Swords  against  the  Lord 
and  his  People,  the  Lord  will  assuredly  draw  his 
Sword  against  you ;  for  there  never  was  any 
Weapon  formed  against  God  and  his  blessed  Truth 
that  ever  prospered  :  It 's  my  Testimony  for  the 
Lord  God  of  my  Life. 

Gov.  Hold  Woman.     Call  Lydia  Wright. 

ClerJc.  Call  Lydia  Wright  of  Long-Island. 

L.  Wright.   Here. 

Gov.  Are  you  one  of  the  Women  that  came  in 
with  this  Woman  into  Mr.  Thatcher's  Meeting- 
house to  disturb  him  at  his  Worship  ? 

L.  W.  I  was;  but  I  disturbed  none,  for  I  came 
in  peaceably,  and  spake  not  a  Word  to  Man, 
Woman,  or  Child. 

Gov.  What  came  you  for  then  ? 

L.  W.  Have  you  not  made  a  Law  that  we 
should  come  to  your  Meeting  ?  For  we  were 
peaceably  met  together  at  our  own  Meeting-house, 
and  some  of  your  Constables  came  in,  and  haled 
some  of  our  Friends  out,  and  said,  This  is  not  a 


198  ,  APPENDIX. 

Place  for  you  to  worship  God  in.  Then  we  asked 
him,  Where  we  should  worship  God  ?  Then  they 
said,  We  must  come  to  your  publick  Worship. 
And  upon  the  First-day  following  I  had  some- 
thing upon  my  Heart  to  come  to  your  publick 
AVorship,  when  we  came  in  peaceably,  and  spake 
not  a  Word,  yet  we  were  haled  to  Prison,  and 
there  have  been  kept  near  a  month. 

S.  Broadstreet.  Did  you  come  there  to  hear 
the  Word  ? 

L.  W.  If  the  Word  of  God  was  there,  I  was 
ready  to  hear  it. 

Gov.  Did  your  Parents  give  Consent  you 
should  come  thither  ? 

L.  W.  Yes,  my  Mother  did. 

Gov.  Shew  it. 

L.  W.  If  you  will  stay  till  I  can  send  Home,  I 
will  engage  to  get  from  under  my  Mother's  Hand, 
that  she  gave  her  Consent. 

Juggins,  a  Magistrate,  said,  You  are  led  by 
the  Si^irit  of  the  Devil,  to  ramble  up  and  down 
the  Country,  like  Whores  and  Rogues  a  Cater- 
wawling. 

L.  W.  Such  Words  do  not  become  those  who 
call  themselves  Christians,  for  they  that  sit  to 
Judge  for  God  in  Matters  of  Conscience,  ought 
to  be  sober  and  serious,  for  Sobriety  becomes  the 
People  of  God,  for  these  are  a  weighty  and  pon- 
derous People. 

Gov.  Did  you  own  this  Woman  ? 

L.  W.  \  own  her,  and  have  Unity  with  her, 
and  I  do  believe  so  have  all  the  faithful  Servants 


APPENDIX.  199 

of  the  Lord,  for  1  know  the  Power  and  Presence 
of  the  Lord  was  with  us. 

Juggins.  You  are  mistaken  :  You  do  not  know 
the  Power  of  God  ;  you  are  led  by  the  Spirit  and 
Light  within  you,  which  is  of  the  Devil :  There 
is  but  one  God,  and  you  do  not  worship  that  God 
which  we  worship. 

L.  W.  I  believe  thou  speakest  Truth,  for  if 
you  worshipped  that  God  which  we  worship,  you 
would  not  persecute  his  People,  for  we  worship 
the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  the 
same  God  that  Daniel  worshipped. 

So  they  cried.  Take  her  away. 

Then  Mary  Miles  was  called. 

Clerk.  Mary  Miles  of  Black-point. 

M.  M.  I  am  here. 

Goi->.  Do  you  live  at  Black-point  ? 

M.  M.  Nay  :  My  former  Living  was  there,  but 
my  outward  Living  is  now  at  Salem,  when  I  am 
at  Home. 

Gov.  Are  you  a  married  Woman  ? 

M.  M.  Nay,  I  am  not  married. 

Gov.  Did  you  come  into  Mr.  Thatcher's  Meet- 
ing-house with  this  Woman  that  had  a  black 
Face? 

M.  M.  Yea,  I  did. 

Gov.  What  was  the  Cause  ? 

M.  M.  My  Freedom  was  in  the  Lord,  and  in 
Obedience  to  his  Will,  and  the  Unity  of  his  Spir- 
it, I  came. 

Gov.  So,  so,  then  you  had  Unity  with  her,  it 
seems,  l)ut  you  had  not  Communion  with  her,  for 
you  had  not  a  black  Face. 


200  APPENDIX. 

M.  M.  1  had  good  Unity  with  her,  and  do  be- 
lieve, and  witness,  and  bear  my  Testimony  for 
the  Lord,  that  it  was  his  Work  and  Service  that 
she  went  in ;  therefore  I  had  Unity  and  Fellow- 
ship with  her,  and  the  Lord  in  his  due  Time  will 
reveal  and  manifest  his  own  Work. 

Gov.  Hold  your  Tongue,  you  prating  House- 
wife ;  you  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Devil  to 
run  about  the  Country  a  wandring,  like  Whores 
and  Rogues. 

31.  M.  They  that  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God 
deny  the  Works  of  the  Devil :  The  Earth  is  the 
Lord's  and  the  Fulness  thereof ;  and  he  can  com- 
mand his  Servants  to  go  wheresoever  he  pleaseth 
to  send  them ;  and  none  can  hinder  his  Power, 
for  it  is  unlimited. 

Cryer.  Take  them  away,  and  carry  them  to 
Prison. 

M.  M.  Yea,  I  am  made  willing  to  go  to  Prison, 
and  to  Death,  if  it  were  required  of  me  to  seal  the 
Testimony  of  Jesus  with  my  Blood,  as  some  of 
my  Friends  and  Brethren  have  done,  whose 
Blood  you  have  shed,  which  cries  to  the  Lord  foi' 
Vengeance,  and  the  Cry  will  not  cease  till  Ven- 
geance come  upon  you. 

Then  Barbara  Bowers  was  called. 

Margaret  Brewster  answered,  Barbara  Bowers 
was  not  concerned  with  us  in  this  Service. 

Gov.  Let  us  hear  what  she  says. 

B.  Bowers.  I  was  in  the  Meeting-house,  but  did 
not  go  in  with  them. 

Then  they  were  all  carried  to  Prison  again, 


APPENDIX.  201 

and  about  an  Hour  after  brought  again  into  the 
Court,  when  the  Governour  being  present,  the 
Clerk  read  the  Sentence  as  follows,  viz. 

Margaret  Brewster,  You  are  to  have  your 
Clothes  stript  off  to  the  Middle,  and  to  be  tied  to 
a  Cart's  Tail  at  the  South  Meeting-house,  and  to 
be  drawn  through  the  Town,  and  to  receive 
twenty  Stripes  upon  your  naked  Body. 

M.  B.  The  Will  of  the  Lord  be  "done :  I  am 
contented. 

The  Clerk  proceeded,  saying,  Lydia  Wright 
and  Mary  Miles,  You  are  to  be  tied  to  the  Cart's 
Tail  also.  Barbara  Bowers,  you  are  to  be  tied 
also. 

M.  Brewster.  I  told  the  Court  before,  that  Bar- 
bara was  not  concerned  with  us  in  the  Service, 
and  therefore  I  desire  you  may  remit  her  Sen- 
tence ;  for  I  knew  not  of  her  Coming  with  us, 
neither  did  I  see  her  with  us,  till  we  came  into 
the  Common-Gaol :  Therefore  I  desire  she  may 
not  suffer. 

Gov.  Take  her  away. 

Gaoler.  I  am  loth  to  pull  you. 

M.  B.  \  will  go  without  pulling,  and  go  as 
chearfully  as  Daniel  went  to  the  Lion's  Den,  for 
the  God  of  Daniel  is  with  me  ;  and  the  God  of 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jaco!),  goes  along  with  me : 
The  same  God  that  was  with  the  throe  Children 
in  the  fiery  Furnace  goes  with  me  now  ;  and  I 
am  glad  that  I  am  worthy  to  be  a  Sufferer  in 
this  Bloody  Town,  and  to  be  numbred  amongst 
my  dearly  and  well-beloved  Brethren  and  Sis- 


202  APPENDIX. 

ters,  that  sealed  their  Testimonies  with  their 
Blood. 

So  they  were  carried  to  Prison  again,  this 
being  the  Seventh-day  of  the  Week ;  and  on 
the  Fifth  day  following,  the  Sentence  was  exe- 
cuted. 

During  the  Examination  of  these  Women, 
they  appeared  altogether  unconcerned  as  to 
themselves,  being  fully  resigned  to  whatsoever 
Sufferings  might  be  their  Portion ;  stedfastly 
maintaining  their  full  Assurance  of  a  divine 
Call  to  the  Service  they  went  upon,  and  a  per- 
fect Peace  and  Serenity  of  Mind  in  yielding 
Obedience  thereunto :  In  all  which  they  seem  to 
have  really  exercised  the  Faith  and  Patience  of 
the  Saints  and  People  of  God. 


ABSTRACT  FROM  JOINT  LETTER  OF  WIL- 
LIAM ROBINSON  AND  MARMADUKE  STE- 
VENS ON.i 

We  that  are  Free-born  English-men,  we  de- 
mand our  Liberty  for  the  Exercise  of  our  pure 
Consciences  in  this  Country,  as  well  as  other 
English-men  ;  we  being  Free-born  English-men, 
we  may,  by  the  Law  of  God,  claim  our  Liberty 
before  many  other  People  :  We  who  are  not 
Transgressors  of  the  Law  of  God,  neither  of 
any  Law  or  Decree  that  is  according  thereunto. 
What  is  the  Reason  that  we  should  be  Banished 
upon  Death,  out  of  your  Jurisdiction,  more  than 

1  New  England  Judged,  pp.  252-259. 


APPENDIX.  203 

any  other  People  ?  What,  is  it  because  we  are 
Turners  of  the  World  upside-down  ?  What,  is 
it  because  we  are  termed  Ring-leaders  of  a  Peo- 
ple, that  are,  in  Scorn,  called  Quakers  ?  What, 
is  it  because  the  Laws  of  our  God,  which  we 
Obey,  are  different  from  all  the  Unrighteous  and 
Bloody  Laws  of  New  England  ?  What,  is  it 
because  we  cannot  Obey  the  Commandment  of 
the  Rulers  of  New  England,  that  have  com- 
manded us"  to  Bow  to  the  Spirit  that  ruled  in 
Haman,  which  now  rules  in  these  bloody  Rulers 
of  Boston,  and  elsewhere  in  New  England  ? 
Nay,  I  say,  the  Lord  our  God  hath  Raised,  and 
is  Raising,  the  Royal  Seed  and  Spirit  that  ruled 
in  Mordecai,  that  could  not,  nor  cannot  Stoop 
nor  Bow  to  the  Spirit  that  ruleth  in  proud 
Haman :  I  say,  see  and  behold,  if  the  same 
Spirit  rules  not  in  you,  ye  Rulers,  Chief  Priests, 
and  Inhabitants  of  Boston  and  elsewhere.  .  .  . 
Are  not  you  preparing  a  Gallows  to  Hang  us 
thereon,  as  Haman  did  for  Mordecai  ?  But, 
take  heed.  We  Warn  you  in  the  Name  of  the 
Lord  God,  consider  what  you  are  going  to 
do :  In  the  Name  of  the  Lord  we  demand, 
that  we  may  have  Liberty,  for  the  Exercise 
of  our  pure  Consciences,  within  your  Juris- 
diction, as  well  as  other  English -men,  seeing 
that  you  cannot  lay  to  our  Charge,  the  Trans- 
gression of  any  Law  of  God,  we  being  Men 
that  Fear  the  Lord  God  of  Heaven  and  Eartli ; 
and  we  come  not  for  any  Thing  of  yours,  God 
is   our  Witness ;  it  is  not  for  any   Thing  that 


204  APPENDIX. 

you  have,  that  we  come  for ;  for  we  do  not 
lack  any  outward  Thing ;  for  many  of  us  have 
both  Houses  and  Laud  of  our  own,  and  Silver 
also,  in  Old  England,  so  that  we  seek  not  any 
Thing  that  you  have  (God  is  our  Witness,  whom 
we  Serve  in  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  who  hath  con- 
strained us  to  leave  all,  and  to  follow  him)  that 
it  is  not  the  World  (that  doth  perish  with  the 
handling  thereof)  that  we  seek  or  labour  for,  but 
the  Good  and  Eternal  Welfare  of  the  Sons  of 
Men  :  For  the  Seed's  sake,  which  is  Oppressed 
in  New  England,  and  other  parts  of  the  World, 
do  we  Labour,  and  Travel,  and  Suffer  all  man- 
ner of  Hardships :  For  Christ's  sake  are  we 
become  Fools,  and  do  Suffer  all  manner  of  Evil 
to  be  done  unto  us.  Christ  said  unto  his  Dis- 
ciples, They  shall  do  all  manner  of  Evil  to  you, 
for  my  Name  sake ;  but  those  that  did  it,  and 
those  that  do  it,  know  neither  God,  nor  his  Son 
Jesus  Christ,  neither  have  they  the  Love  of  God 
abiding  in  them :  ...  It  is  written  in  the 
Warrant,  whereby  we  were  Committed  to  Pris- 
on, That  we  shall  be  Tryed  according  to  Law. 
We  desire  no  more,  than  to  be  Tryed  according 
to  Equity,  Truth,  and  true  Judgment,  to  be 
Tryed  according  to  the  Law  of  God  ;  but  your 
Law,  you  unjust  Men,  we  deny  to  be  Tryed  by 
it ;  for  you  are  both  our  Accusers  and  Judges ; 
which  is  not  according  to  the  Law  of  God :  For, 
Equity  and  Truth  Judgeth  and  Condemneth  all 
unsound  Judgment,  Unrighteousness,  Partiality 
and  Respecting  of  Persons.  .  .  .  This  is  a  Warn. 


APPENDIX.  205 

iug  to  you  all  in  New-England,  who  have  had  a 
Hand  in  persecuting  the  Saints  and  Children  of 
the  Lord  (who  are  by  you,  in  Scorn  and  Con- 
tempt, called  Quakers).  Give  over  your  Cruelty; 
cease  from  Oppressing  the  Innocent ;  for  the 
Lord  God  hath  regard  unto  their  Sufferings,  and 
the  Lord  God  is  Risen,  and  Arising,  to  plead 
their  Cause  against  all  their  Enemies,  and  all 
their  Adversaries  must  fall  before  them ;  for  the 
Lord  is  with  them,  and  the  Shout  of  a  Mighty 
Prince  is  among  the  Innocent  People,  called 
Quakers  ;  and  this  is  the  Day  of  their  Suffering, 
and  the  Day  of  your  Cruelties  and  Persecution 
upon  them,  within  this  New-England :  But  the 
Day  of  their  Deliverance  draweth  near,  and  the 
Day  wherein  they  shall  Rejoyce  in  the  Lord, 
the  God  of  their  Salvation,  who  is  mighty  to 
Save,  and  able  to  Deliver  them  out  of  the 
Hands,  and  out  of  the  Mouths  of  Devourers, 
and  from  the  Jaws  of  the  Ungodly  and  Cruel 
Men ;  who  will  take  Vengeance  at  that  Day 
upon  all  bloody-minded  Men  and  blind  Perse- 
cutors :  And  at  that  Day  you  shall  find  that  the 
Lord  will  be  too  hard  for  you,  tho'  you  now 
Boast  in  your  Wickedness.  And  thus  far  I  am 
Clear,  and  have  cleared  my  Conscience  to  you 
at  this  time  :  And  whether  you  will  hear,  or  for- 
bear, I  am  clear  of  your  Blood  :  I  who  am  now 
a  Sufferer  under  you,  with  my  Brother  and  Com- 
panion, whose  Lives  are  not  dear  unto  us,  to  lay 
them  down  as  a  Witness  against  such  a  Bloody, 
and  Unrighteous,  and  Hypocritical  Generation  : 


206  APPENDIX. 

And  this  we  are  ready  to  Seal  with  our  Blood, 
for  the  breaking  of  your  Bloody  Law. 

From  us,   who   are  in   Scorn   called    Quakers,  who 
are  Sufferers  under  Zions   Oppressors.     The  6th 
Month,  1G59. 
In  the  Common  Gaol,  in  the  Bloody  Town  of  Bos- 
ton. 

William  Robinson. 
Marmaduke  Sevenson. 


LETTER   OF  MAEY   DYER.i 

The  28th  of  the  Sth  Month,  1659. 
Once  more  to  the  general  court  assembled 
in  Boston,  speaks  Mary  Dyar.  even  as  before : 
my  life  is  not  accej^ted,  neither  availeth  me,  in 
comparison  of  the  lives  and  liberty  of  the  truth 
and  servants  of  the  living  God,  for  which  in  the 
bowels  of  love  and  meekness  I  sought  you :  yet, 
nevertheless,  with  wicked  hands  have  you  put 
two  of  them  to  death,  which  makes  me  to  feel, 
that  the  mercies  of  the  wicked  are  cruelty  ;  I 
rather  choose  to  die  than  to  live,  as  from  you,  as 
guilty  of  their  innocent  blood :  therefore  seeing 
my  request  is  hindered,  I  leave  you  to  the  right- 
eous Judge,  and  searcher  of  all  hearts,  who,  with 
the  pure  measure  of  light  he  hath  given  to  every 
man  to  profit  withal,  will  in  his  due  time  let  you 
see  whose  servants  you  are,  and  of  whom  you 
have  taken  counsel,  which  I  desire  you  to  search 
into  :  but  all  his  counsel  hath  been  slighted,  and 

1  Sewel's  History  of  the  Quakers,  p.  265. 


APPENDIX.  207 

you  would  none  of  his  reproofs.  Read  your 
portion,  Prov.  i.  24  to  32.  For  verily  the  night 
Cometh  on  you  apace,  wherein  no  man  can  work, 
in  which  you  shall  assuredly  fall  to  your  own 
master.  In  obedience  to  the  Lord,  whom  I  serve 
with  my  spirit,  and  pity  to  your  souls,  which  yon 
neither  know  nor  pity,  I  can  do  no  less  than  once 
more  to  warn  you,  to  put  away  the  evil  of  your 
doings,  and  kiss  the  son,  the  light  in  you,  before 
his  wrath  be  kindled  in  you  ;  for  where  it  is, 
nothing  without  you  can  help  or  deliver  you  out 
of  his  hand  at  all ;  and  if  these  things  be  not  so, 
then  say,  '  there  hath  been  no  prophet  from  the 
Lord  sent  amongst  you.'  Though  we  be  nothing, 
yet  it  is  his  pleasure,  by  things  that  are  not,  to 
bring  to  naught  things  that  are. 

When  I  heard  your  last  order  read,  it  was  a 
disturbance  unto  me,  that  was  so  freely  offering 
up  ray  life  to  him  that  gave  it  me,  and  sent  me 
hither  so  to  do,  which  obedience  being  his  own 
work,  he  gloriously  accompanied  witli  his  jjres- 
euce,  and  peace,  and  love  in  me,  in  which  I 
rested  from  my  labour ;  till  by  your  order  and 
the  people,  I  was  so  far  disturbed,  that  I  could 
not  retain  any  more  of  the  words  thereof,  than 
that  I  should  return  to  prison,  and  there  remain 
forty  and  eight  hours  ;  to  which  I  submitted, 
finding  nothing  from  the  Lord  to  the  contrary, 
that  I  may  know  what  his  pleasure  and  counsel 
is  concerning  me,  on  whom  I  wait  therefore,  for 
he  is  my  life,  and  the  length  of  my  days  ;  and  as 
I  said  before,  I  came  at  his  command,  and  go  at 
his  command.  Mauy  Dvar. 


208  APPENDIX. 


ABSTRACT  OF  LETTER  FROM  WILLIAM 
LEDDRA  "WRITTEN  TO  HIS  FRIENDS  ON 
THE   DAY   BEFORE   HIS   EXECUTION.i 

Most  dear  and  inwardly  beloved. 

The  sweet  influences  of  the  Morning-Star,  like 
a  flood  distilling  into  my  innocent  habitation, 
hath  so  filled  me  with  the  joy  of  the  Lord  in  the 
beauty  of  holiness,  that  my  spirit,  is  as  if  it  did 
not  inhabit  a  tabernacle  of  clay,  but  is  wholly 
swallowed  up  in  the  bosom  of  eternity,  from 
whence  it  had  its  being. 

Alas,  alas,  what  can  the  wrath  and  spirit  of 
man,  that  lusteth  to  envy,  aggravated  by  the  heat 
and  strength  of  the  king  of  the  locusts,  which 
came  out  of  the  pit,  do  unto  one  that  is  hid  in 
the  secret  places  of  the  Almighty  ?  Or  unto 
them  that  are  gathered  under  the  healing  wings 
of  the  prince  of  peace  ?  under  whose  armour  of 
light  they  shall  be  able  to  stand  in  the  day  of 
trial,  having  on  the  breast-plate  of  righteousness, 
and  the  sword  of  the  spirit,  which  is  their  weapon 
of  war  against  spiritual  wickedness,  principalities 
and  powers,  and  the  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this 
world,  both  within  and  without !  Oh,  my  be- 
loved !  I  have  waited  as  a  dove  at  the  windows 
of  the  ark,  and  have  stood  still  in  that  watch, 
which  the  Master,  (without  whom  I  could  do 
nothing)  did  at  his  coming  reward  with  fulness 
of  his  love,  wherein  my  heart  did  rejoice,  that  I 
might  in  the  love  and  life  of  God,  speak  a  fe^ 
i  Sewel,  p.  312. 


APPENDIX.  209 

words  to  you  sealed  with  the  spirit  of  promise, 
that  the  taste  thereof  might  be  a  savour  of  life, 
to  your  life,  and  a  testimony  in  you  of  my  inno- 
cent death :  and  if  I  had  been  altogether  silent, 
and  the  Lord  had  not  opened  my  mouth  unto 
you,  yet  he  would  have  opened  your  hearts,  and 
there  have  sealed  my  innocency  with  the  streams 
of  life,  by  which  we  are  all  baptized  into  that 
body  which  is  in  God,  whom,  and  in  whose  pres- 
ence there  is  life ;  in  which,  as  you  abide,  you 
stand  upon  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth :  for, 
the  life  being  the  truth  and  the  way,  go  not  one 
step  without  it,  lest  you  should  compass  a  moun- 
tain in  the  wilderness ;  for,  unto  everything  there  is 
a  season.  .  .  .  fear  not  what  they  can  do  unto 
you :  greater  is  he  that  is  in  you,  than  he  that  is 
in  the  ivorld:  for  he  will  clothe  you  with  humil- 
ity, and  in  the  power  of  his  meekness  you  shall 
reign  over  all  the  rage  of  your  enemies  in  the 
favour  of  God  ;  wherein,  as  you  stand  in  faith, 
ye  are  the  salt  of  the  earth ;  for,  many  seeing 
your  good  works,  may  glorify  God  in  the  day  of 
their  visitation. 

Take  heed  of  receiving  that  which  you  saw 
not  in  the  light,  lest  you  give  ear  to  the  enemy. 
Bring  all  things  to  the  light,  that  they  may  he 
proved,  whether  they  be  wrought  in  God  ;  the  love 
of  the  world,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the  lust 
of  the  eye,  are  without  the  light,  in  the  world ; 
therefore  possess  your  vessels  in  all  sanctifica- 
tion  and  honour,  and  let  your  eye  look  at  the 
mark :  he  that  hath  called  you  is  holy :  and  if 
14 


210  APPENDIX. 

there  be  an  eje  that  ofiPeuds,  pluck  it  out,  and 
cast  it  from  you  :  let  not  a  temptation  take  hold, 
for  if  you  do,  it  will  keep  from  the  favour  of 
God,  and  that  will  be  a  sad  state ;  for,  without 
grace  possessed,  there  is  no  assurance  of  salva- 
tion :  by  grace  you  are  saved ;  and  the  witness- 
ing of  it  is  sufficient  for  you,  to  which  I  com- 
mend you  all,  my  dear  friends,  and  in  it  remain, 
Your  brother, 

William  Leddra. 
Boston  gaol,  the  I3th  of  the  First  Mouth,  16|^ 


DANIEL  GOULD'S  LETTER.i 

To  the  rulers  ^  peopele  of  the  toun  ^Jurisdiction 

of  bostene. 

It  is  writen  in  the  criptnars  w*^*^  you  say  is 
youar  rule,  y*  Christ  sayed,  lern  of  me.  Whear 
is  it  writen  or  declared  in  the  criptuars  y*  Christ 
ever  tought  or  commanded  eny  to  parciquet,  to 
put  in  prison  or  to  bannish  any  for  thear  relegin ; 
but  is  it  not  writen  to  the  contry,  &  did  not  he 
say  to  his  desippels,  let  them  alone,  these  be 
blind  leders.  Now  if  we  wch  yee  call  quakrs  be 
the  blind  leaders  then  see  if  you  do  not  mak  it 
manifest  also  that  you  .  .  .  For  his  desipels 
obayed  his  command  &  let  them  alowen,  but  y^ 
do  not.  Now  what  doe  you  exspect  to  be  judged 
by  when  your  own  coudems  you  so  plainly.  Con- 
seder  it  well,  the  blind  ledars  were  them  that  did 
not  belive  in  the  light  but  denyed  the  light  and 
1  Massachusetts  Archives,  vol.  x.  p.  265. 


APPENDIX.  211 

would  dim  up  sum  other  way  «fe  so  be  in  the 
wrong  way,  there  foar  caled  blind  leders  out  of 
the  light.  .  .  .  Again  consider  of  whom  yee 
lerne,  for  Christ  ?aid  to  his  desipels,  resist  not 
evel,  but  yee  have  put  in  prison  &  banished 
them  that  have  dune  you  no  wrong  nor  thoght 
eny  towards  you.  And  Peter  speking  of  his  suf- 
arings,  said  he  left  us  an  exsampell  y*  we  should 
follow  his  steps ;  now  thearfore  consider  in  youer 
selves  &  in  your  secrit  chambers  lay  it  to  hart 
and  with  the  true  light  which  will  deceive  no 
man,  sarch  &  see  in  whose  steps  ye  are,  whether 
in  the  steps  of  the  sufarars  or  in  the  steps  of  the 
pursiqutars,  for  I  am  greved  to  see  your  cruelty 
and  your  hard  hartednes  against  a  peopell  that 
cannot  flatar  you  nor  willfully  doe  you  eny 
wrong,  but  if  any  should  doe  you  any  wrong  or 
trespas  against  eny  man,  let  a  rightus  law  take 
hold  of  such ;  but  what  ned  any  law  be  made 
against  the  innosent ;  those  y*  doe  you  noe  wrong. 
.  .  .  Conserning  religun  lete  every  one  be  fully 
parswaded  in  his  owen  mind  &  worship  acording 
as  God  shal  preswad  his  owne  hart,  &  if  any  wor- 
ship not  God  as  thay  ought  to  doe  «fe  yet  liveth 
quietly  &  pesably  with  ther  naibers  &  contery 
men  &  doth  them  noe  wrong,  is  it  not  safar 
for  you  to  let  them  aloene  to  receive  thear  re- 
ward from  him  who  said  I  will  render  venganse 
to  myne  ennmy^  &  reward  them  that  hate  me. 
Let  God  alone  be  Lord  of  the  conscience  &  not 
man,  &  let  us  have  the  same  liburty  &•  freedom 
amongst  yee  as  other  ingleshmen  hav  to  com  and 


212  APPENDIX. 

visit  owar  frends  &  kindered,  &  doe  that  wich  is 
honest  &  lawful  to  be  done  in  bying  or  seling ; 
and  if  any  have  amind  to  reason  or  spek  con- 
sarning  the  way  and  worship  of  God,  that  thay 
may  not  be  put  in  prison  or  punished  for  it ;  soe 
let  peopel  have  liharty  to  try  all  thing  &  hold 
fast  that  which  is  good  :  I  allso  desiar  you  serisly 
to  consider  &  give  me  an  answar  to  these  towe 
querys.  .  .  .  whether  Gallio  did  well  being  a 
deputy,  yea  or  nay,  when  the  Jewse  brough 
Paule  to  the  jidgment  seate,  saying  this  felow 
preswads  peopell  to  worship  God  contrary  to  the 
law,  &  his  ansar  was,  if  it  wear  a  matar  of  wrong 
or  wicked  leudnes  to  y*  Jewes,  reason  would  that 
I  should  bear  with  you,  but  if  it  be  a  questyon 
of  words  or  names  of  yor  law,  lok  you  to  it,  for 
I  will  be  no  judg  on  such  matters ;  &  he  drove 
them  fram  the  Judgment  seat.  Acts  the  18*,  13, 
14,  15,  16.  Whether  Gemaliall,  being  a  doctor  of 
law,  did  councell  well,  yea  or  nay,  when  .  .  . 
took  counsel  to  kill  the  apostels  after  hee  had 
told  them  of  sume  that  were  scatared  &  brought 
to  naught,  &  said,  take  hede  to  your  selvs  of 
what  you  intend  to  doe  touching  these  men  and 
let  them  alone,  for  if  this  counsel, or  this  work 
be  of  man  it  will  came  to  naught  but  if  it  be  of 
God  yee  cannot  overthrow  it,  lest  yee  be  found 
fighters  against  God.  Read  the  Acts,  5"',  from 
33  to  40.  Dannial  godlld 

rod  Hand  the  3  month  1660. 


APPENDIX.  213 


LETTER  FROM  MARY  TRASKE  AND  MAR- 
GARET SMITH,  ACCUSING  THE  GOVERN- 
MENT.! 

To  Thee  John  Indicot  &  y*  rest  of  y^  rulers 
of  this  jurisdiction,  who  are  given  up  to  fight 
ag^'  ye  Lord  &  his  truth  in  this  y*  day  wherein 
its  springing  forth,  &  by  y''  comlines  of  it  hath 
y^  Lord  o""  God  constrained  us  to  take  up  y*'  cross 
and  to  follow  him  through  greate  tryalls  &  suffer- 
ings as  to  y^  outward.  And  herein  we  can  rejoyce 
y'  we  are  counted  worthy  &  called  hereunto  to 
beare  our  testimony  against  a  cruell  &  hard- 
hearted people  who  are  slighting  y''  day  of  yo"" 
visitation  &  foolishly  requiting  y"  Lord  for  his 
goodnes,  &  shamefully  intreated  his  hidden  ones 
whom  he  hath  sent  amongst  yo"  to  call  yo"'  from 
y'  evill  of  yo'"  waies,  y*  yee  might  come  w"*  them 
to  partake  of  his  love  &  feel  his  life  &  power  in 
yo""  owne  hearts  ;  y'  with  us  y"''  might  have  been 
brought  to  be  subject  to  y*^  higher  power,  Christ 
Jesus  ;  whom  yo^  should  have  been  obedient  to 
and  hearkned  to  his  judgments  while  he  stood  at 
y*  dore  &  knocked  (for  he  will  not  alwaies  strive 
w*''  man)  &  then  it  should  have  been  well  w"* 
yo^.  But  seing  yee  are  gone  from  this  y'  leadeth 
into  tendernes,  love  &  meeknes,  &  to  doe  unto 
all  as  yo"^  would  be  done  unto ;  therefore  yee 
are  given  uj)  unto  a  Spirit  of  Error  &  hardnes 
of  heart  &  blindnes  of  mind  ;  y^  eye  of  yo''  minds 
being  blinded  by  y^  god  of  this  world ;  so  y'  yo"* 

1  Massachusetts  Archives,  vol.  x.  p.  267. 


214  APPENDIX. 

cannot  se  our  life  w*^*^  is  hid  w'''  Christ  in  God, 
who  is  become  our  light  &  life  &  hope  of  glory 
and  our  exceeding  greate  reward ;  in  whom  we 
doe  reigne ;  yea  surely  y''  God  of  Jacob  is  w"^  us 
w'ever  yo"  may  be  able  to  say  against  us  :  for  be- 
hold y^  Lord  our  God  is  arising  as  a  mighty  and 
terrible  one  to  plead  y*^  cause  of  his  people  and 
to  clears  y^  cause  of  y®  innocent ;  but  surely  he 
will  in  no  wise  acquit  y*'  guilty  who  have  shed 
y^  bloud  of  y**  innocent ;  &  yee  shall  assuredly 
feel  his  judgments  who  have  wilfully  put  forth 
yo''  hands  against  his  Chosen ;  &  yee  have  cut 
of  y^  righteous  from  amongst  yo"  &  are  still  tak- 
ing councell  against  y*"  Lord,  to  proceed  against 
more  of  his  people,  but  this  know,  y''  Lord  our 
God  will  confound  yo'"  councell  &  lay  your  glory 
in  y*  dust,  &  to  whom  will  yo"  flee  for  help ; 
whither  will  yo"  goe  to  hide  yo''  selves  ;  for  verely 
y*^  Lord  will  strip  of  all  yo'  coverings,  for  yo"  are 
not  covered  with  y''  Spirit  of  y^  Lord,  therefore 
y*'  wo  is  gone  out  against  yo" ;  for  yo''  place  of 
defence  is  a  refuge  of  lies  &  under  falsehoods 
yee  have  hid  your  selves  ;  wo  :  wo  :  unto  yo",  for 
yo"  have  forsaken  y*  Lord,  y*  fountaine  of  living 
water,  &  are  greedilj'^  swallowing  y^  pointed  wat- 
ers y'  comes  through  y^  stinking  channell  of  yo'' 
hireling  masters  unclean  spirits,  whom  Christ 
cries  wo  against,  &  who  cannot  cease  from  sin, 
having  hearts  exercised  w**"  coveteous  practices  : 
wo  unto  them  (saith  y*'  scripture)  for  they  have 
run  greedily  after  y''  Error  of  Balaam  who  loved 
y^  wages  of  unrighteousnes ;  &  are  seeking  in- 


APPENDIX.  215 

chantments  against  y*^  seed  of  Jacob ;  but  there 
divinations  against  Israeli  y*^  Lord  will  confound; 
and  all  yo""  wicked  councells  bring  to  nought :  wo 
unto  yo"  y*  decree  unrighteous  decrees  &  write 
greiviousnes,  y'  yo"  have  prescribed  to  turne 
away  y®  poore  &  needy  from  there  right.  Have 
ye  not  sold  yo''  selves  to  worke  wickednes,  &  are 
strengthning  yo""  selves  in  your  abomination  till 
y*  measure  of  your  iniquity  be  full ;  surely  y® 
overflowing  scourge  will  pas  over  yo"  &  sweep 
away  yo""  refuge  of  lies,  &  yo""  covenant  w"^  hell 
shall  be  disanulled ;  for  loe,  destruction  &  misery 
is  in  yo'"  way  &  y''  way  of  peace  yee  doe  not 
know,  for  yo"  are  gone  from  y**  good  old  way 
after  yo'"  owne  waies,  therefore  y*^  way  of  holi- 
nes  is  hid  from  your  eyes.  O  y'  yo"  had  owned 
y"^  day  of  yo*"  visitation  before  it  had  been  to 
late,  &  had  hearkned  to  y'^  voice  of  his  servants 
whom  he  hath  sent  unto  yo*^  againe  &  againe  in 
love  &  tendernes  to  yo*"  soules  ;  but  yo"  would 
not  hearken  unto  y"  Lord  when  he  called,  there- 
fore when  yo"  cry  &  call  he  will  not  heare  yo". 
Although  you  may  call  unto  hira  yet  he  will  not 
answer ;  he  will  laugh  at  yo""  calamity  when  it 
Cometh  ;  for  yo"  have  set  at  nought  all  his  coun- 
cell,  &  have  chosen  rather  to  walke  in  yo*"  owne 
councell  ;  but  this  know,  y'  if  you  had  hearkned 
to  y"  councell  of  y*^  Lord  (y"^  light)  w''*'  is  now 
yo""  condemnation,  &  had  waited  there  to  know 
his  will ;  then  yo"  should  have  knowne  it ;  and 
then  these  wicked  lawes  had  never  been  made 
nor  prosecuted  by  yo",  w"^''  yo"  have  made  in  yo"^ 


216  APPENDIX. 

owne  wills,  contrary  to  y^  law  of  God,  w*^^  is  pure 
and  leadeth  all  y*  yeldeth  obedience  to  it  into 
purity  &  holines  of  life.  And  for  our  being  obe- 
dient to  this  law  w*^^  y''  Lord  hath  written  in  our 
hearts,  we  are  hated  &  persecuted  by  yo"  who  are 
in  Cains  nature  murdering  y*^  just;  yea,  surely 
y"^  cause  is  y*^  Lords,  for  w'^'^  we  have  suffered  all 
this  time,  «fe  y**  battel!  is  y*^  Lords,  &  he  will  arise 
and  stand  up  for  them  y'  faithfully  beares  forth 
there  testimony  to  y''  end.  And  yee  shall  be 
as  broken  vessells  before  him  which  cannot  be 
joyned  together  againe  ;  therefore  feare  &  trem- 
ble before  y"  Lord,  who  is  coming  upon  yo"  as  a 
theife  in  y**  night ;  from  whom  yo"  shall  not  be 
able  to  hide  your  selves,  &  will  reward  yo"  ac- 
cording to  j^o""  workes  ;  whose  judgments  aie  just ; 
and  he  is  risen  to  plead  w*  unjust  rulers  preists 
and  people,  who  are  joyned  together  in  a  profes- 
sion of  godlines,  &  glorying  in  it  but  denying  y* 
power  thereof  in  them  where  it  apeares ;  but  your 
glorying  will  be  turned  into  shame  &  confusion  of 
face,  &  yo""  beauty  will  be  as  a  fading  flower  w*^** 
suddenly  withereth  away ;  &  this  yo"  shall  find 
to  be  true  in  y^  day  when  y^  Lord  shall  accom- 
plish it  upon  yo".  And  we  have  written  to  cleare 
our  conscience,  &  if  yo"  should  account  us  yo'' 
enemies  for  speaking  y'^  truth,  &  heat  y**  furnace 
of  our  affliction  hotter,  yet  know  we  shall  not 
fall  downe  &  worship  yo""  wills  ;  neither  esteeme 
all  y*  dumb  idolls,  after  w*^"^  yo"  are  led,  of  no 
other  use  but  to  be  throwne  aside  to  y*  moles  and 
y®  batts,  for  so  is  y*  shadows  (if  it  were  of  good 


APPENDIX.  217 

things  to  come)  to  y"  substance,  &  y*  w*^*"  seemed 
glorious  hath  no  glory  in  respect  of  y*  w'''^  ex- 
celleth  ;  &  all  the  sufferings  y*  we  have  endured 
(from  yo")  for  Christ  hath  not  at  all  marrd  his 
visage  to  us,  but  we  still  se  more  beauty  iu  him ; 
well  knowing,  y'  as  they  did  unto  him  so  they 
will  doe  unto  us,  &  now  they  are  come  to  pas,  we 
remember  y'  he  said  these  things. 

Mart  Traske 
Margaret  Smith 

From  yC"  house  of  Correction  where  we  have  been 
unjustly  restrained  from  o"'  children  &  habitations 
one  of  us  above  tenn  months  &  y°  other  about 
eight;  &  where  we  are  yet  continued  by  yo'  opres- 
sors  y'  knows  no  shame  ; 

Boston  21"' of  y'  10°""  1660; 


JOHN  BURSTOW'S  LETTER.i 

The  day  of  yu""  visitation  is  gon  over  yu""  heads  : 
when  yee  had  y"  light  yee  walked  not  in  it;  then 
darkness  overtooke  you  &  y"  light  judged  &  con- 
demned you :  then  yee  hated  y*^  light  because 
yu''  deeds  wear  evil,  &  now  yee  are  in  y*"  night 
wherin  noe  man  can  worke  or  doe  any  thing 
w*'''  is  exsepted  of  y*  Lord.  Your  prayers  are 
sinne  &  stinke,  &  an  ill  saver  are  you  to  y*^  Lord 
on''  God,  &  yu""  assemblies  are  an  abomination  to 
y*  Lord ;  yu"  hands  are  defilled  w"'  blood :  yu'' 
eyes  are  full  of  adultery  &,  yu''  harts  is  as  a  caige 
of  unclean  spirits,  &  y*  w*^"^  should  be  a  house  of 
1  Massachusetts  Archives,  vol.  x.  p.  269. 


218  APPENDIX. 

prayer  is  become  a  clenn  of  theives  &  robers,  and 
yee  comitt  ludeiiess  &  are  joyned  w'^  y*^  destruc- 
tion w'^'^  is  swiftly  coming  upon  you :  yee  y'  have 
an  eare  to  beer,  barken  &  com  fortb  from  among 
tbem,  y'  yee  may  be  as  fier  brands  plucted  out 
of  y'^  fier,  for  as  sartainely  as  y*"  plauges  was 
powered  fortb  upon  bard  barted  Faro,  sball  y'' 
plauges  «fc  judgements  of  y*  Lord  be  powered 
fortb  upon  y®  inbabitanc  of  tbis  towne  of  bos- 
ton ;  &  tben  yee  sball  know  wbo  are  y"  faulce 
propbets ;  wbeatber  we  w'^^  pronounce  judge- 
ments &  plauges,  or  yu''  bierling  prists  w*^^^  spacke 
peace  to  you  wbilest  you  put  into  their  mouth. 
And  they  are  blind  leaders  of  y''  blind,  &  yee 
sball  fall  &  perish :  boatb  yee  &  yu''  prists  whose 
king  is  the  angell  of  y*^  botomless  pit ;  &  out  of 
y*  botomless  pitt  have  thay  their  wisdom  w'^'^  thay 
feede  you  w"^ ;  all  w*^"^  is  earthly,  sencuall,  divil- 
ish.  And  tbis  earthly  &  durty  wisdom  is  y*^  sar- 
pents  meat  w'^'^  is  bad  in  you  :  but  now  is  y^  seed 
of  y*"  woman  made  manifest  to  bruse  y''  sarpents 
bead  :  and  wee  tread  upon  scorpions  &  handell 
sarpents  &  cast  out  unclean  spirits  by  y*'  power 
of  y*^  Lord,  and  thay  cannot  hurte  or  destroy,  in 
all  bis  holy  mouutaine. 

Wbo  can  make  a  seperation  betwixt  y*^  presb- 
ous  &  y^  ville  amongst  you :  or  who  can  deserne 
betwixt  y®  clean  &  y*^  unclean  amongst  you,  for 
y®  word  of  y*^  Loid  is  gon  forth  &  y®  decree  of  y® 
Lord  is  sealed,  &  thus  it  is  fellen  out  to  this 
wicked  &  untoward  generation  whose  last  estate 
is  worse  then  their  beginning ;  whose  house  was 


APPENDIX.  219 

once  swept  and  garnished,  but  a  spirit  seven 
times  worse  is  entered  into  them  &  y*  parfection 
of  wickedness  is  among  them.  This  is  y''  word  of 
truth  seen  &  declered  in  y*  light  w*^"^  tryeth  and 
deserneth  all  spirits,  wheather  thay  will  heer  or 
forbear.  Saith  y®  Lord  spacke  thou  unto  them, 
but  thay  will  not  barken  unto  thee,  for  thay  will 
not  barken  unto  me,  y*^  light  w*^''  reproveth  them 
and  woundeth  them  in  y*'  secrets  of  their  harts, 
but  thay  have  revolted  more  &  mor  &  have  not 
greived  nor  remembred  the  affection  of  Joseph 
but  have  comitted  whordoms  against  y^  Lord 
and  joyned  w"^  y*  adulterated  spirit  w'^''  huntes 
after  y**  preshaus  life  to  destroy  it.  There  for  y' 
w*""^  is  for  destruction  to  destruction,  y'  w'^''  is  y® 
sword  to  y*  sword,  y*  w'^'^  is  for  tier  to  y®  fier. 
And  this  shall  be  the  end  of  them  all :  he  y'  is 
unjust  lett  him  be  unjust  still :  he  y'  is  filthy  lett 
him  be  filthy  still,  «fe  he  y'  is  righteous  let  him  be 
righteous  still,  &  he  y*  is  holy  let  him  be  holy- 
still.  And  to  y'  w*'^  yee  are  joyned  to  shall  yee 
take  yo''  portion.  And  y*"  reward  of  yu""  workes 
mine  eye  shall  not  pitty :  or  regard  yu""  crye  when 
in  y^  bitterness  of  yu''  soules  yee  cry  out  for  y^ 
extreame  anguish  &  horror  w*^''  shall  be  on  yu"^ 
spirits ;  but  as  I  have  called  &  you  regarded  not, 
soe  shall  you  call  &  cry,  but  I  will  not  answer 
you  w'''  y"  least  drope  of  water  or  mixtuer  of 
peace  to  Ease  y'  spirit,  w*"*^  shall  be  tormented, 
but  y''  druges  &  y"  cup  shall  yee  drinke,  w'''*  is 
prepared  for  you  w'^'out  mixtuer.  Lett  not  yu"^ 
prists  deceive  you  by  spaking  peace  to  you,  for 


220  APPENDIX. 

you  &  thay  shall  be  cast  into  y"  bed  of  torment 
together. 

This  is  y"  word  of  truth  to  you :  Declared  in 
y"  Life  &  power  of  y''  Lord. 

John.  Burstow 

Boston  Jayell : 

The  First  day  of  y°  4     month 
1661. 


LETTER  FROM  JOSIAH  SUTHICK,  A  QUA- 
KER, TO  THE  DEPUTIES  ASSEMBLED  IN 
THE   GENERAL   COURT.i 

Freinds  a  few  lines  I  thought  good  to  lay  be- 
fore you,  being  moved  by  y«  Lord  therunto.  .  .  . 
O  freinds,  for  so  I  can  call  you  :  I  am  at  enmiti 
with  nothing  in  you  but  y'  w*^^  sets  it  selfe  ags'  y® 
libertie  of  y^  Lords  redeemed  ones :  w*^"^  is  to  serve 
y*  Lord  w*'^  y^  whole  hart  &  y^  spiret,  &  not  in  y® 
leter :  whose  praise  is  not  of  men  but  of  God : 
what  shall  I  say  or  how  shall  I  speake  unto  you  : 
let  prejudices  &  ungrounded  jelosies  be  set  aside: 
and  let  us  reason  togeather :  .  .  .  take  heed  you 
take  not  y*  place  of  God  upon  you  to  judg  where 
God   would   hav  you  judg   your  selvs  :  for  this 
know   y*  y*  god  of   heaven,   hath  searched  our 
harts :  &  discovered  to  us  y*  truth,  &  for  folow- 
ing  &  obeying  y®  truthe  are  wee  made  ofenders 
and  transgressors  of  your  lawes  &  hath  rather 
chose  to  suffer  under  y™  nor  obey  y™  :   because 
we  have  sertinly  found  y'  your  wills  &,  require- 
iugs  have  bene  contrari  unto  y"  will  of  our  God, 
1  Massachusetts  Archives,  vol.  x.  pp.  251,  252. 


APPENDIX.  221 

therfore  we  dare  not  submit  to  y'"  in  obeying  y'" : 
.  .  .  Did  Christ  persecute  them  y'  called  him  a 
blasphemer  or  did  he  desire  ani  bodili  punish- 
ment on  them  y'  sayd  hee  cast  out  divells  by 
belsebub  y*  princ  of  divells  :  is  not  his  counsell 
other  weise;  did  not  he  say  love  your  ene- 
mies, bless  y™  y*  curss  you,  doe  good  to  y™  y' 
hate  you,  pray  for  y""  y*  despitefully  use  you  and 
persecute  you  :  y*  yee  may  bee  y*^  children  of 
your  father  which  is  in  heaven ;  for  he  maketh 
his  sun  to  rise  on  y''  just  &  on  y''  unjust :  and 
maketh  his  rayne  to  rain  on  y'^  evile  &  on  y* 
good  :  some  have  sayd  wee  were  y*  persecuters ; 
but  wee  know  wee  are  y*  persecuted,  yet  wee  can 
freely  say,  y''  Lord  lay  not  your  sin  to  your 
charge,  for  T  beleve  mani  of  you  know  not  what 
you  doe:  .  .  .  doth  not  Christ  say,  hee  y'  smiteth 
thee  on  y"  one  cheek  turn  to  him  y''  other  also : 
have  you  such  a  spiret  in  you  :  ...  is  it  y' 
spiret  y'  doth  so  rage  when  it  is  not  honored  or 
bowed  too  :  consider  your  selvs  &  deale  playnely 
wth  your  own  harts  be  not  deceivde  .  .  .  have 
you  not  a  law  made  by  w°'^  you  can  make  all  doe 
as  you  doe  &  as  it  were  say  as  you  say,  or  else  to 
y''  prisson  &  whiping  poste  :  .  .  .  .  are  you  not 
out  of  y**  right  way  :  doe  such  actions  proseed 
from  the  spirete  of  Christ  or  y''  spiret  of  meek- 
nes  wch  y*  falen  brother  is  to  be  recovered  with  : 
.  .  .  where  Christ  sayth  doe  good,  there  you 
doe  evil :  where  hee  sayth  love,  there  do  you 
hate :  where  hee  sayth  hold  your  hand,  there  doe 
you    smite:    where   hee  sayth  judg  your  selvs, 


222  APPENDIX. 

theire  doe  yee  judg  others  &  leave  your  seivs 
uDJudged,  &  with  y'  spiret  w'^'*  is  un judged  in 
your  selvs,  doe  3'ee  judg  us  &  condemn  us,  but  it 
revileth  us  not,  for  wee  have  y*  peec  you  cannot 
give  nor  take  away :  .  .  .  But  hee  y'  knoweth 
my  hart  knoweth  I  desire  nothing  niore  then  y' 
you  may  know  him  &  return  unto  him  you  have 
fought  against:  for  what  you  doe  unto  any  of 
Christ's  servants,  hee  looks  upon  it  as  don  unto 
himself :  let  these  lines  not  be  slited  by  you,  but 
what  you  aprehend  is  not  acording  to  truthe  in 
y™,  let  me  have  a  reply  derected  unto  a  freind 
of  y*  Lord  &  a  prissoner  for  keeping  his  com- 
mands :  who  am  with  held  from  my  fameli  voca- 
tions &,  kept  in  y"^  house  of  opression  in  boston. 
Known  by  name  Josiah  Suthick  .  .  .  From  my 
hart  I  wish  you  may  doe  y^  thing  y*  is  right  be- 
fore y*  Lord:  wch  you  will  doe  as  his  counsell 
you  take:  wch  in  a  word  is  this;  doe  unto  all 
men  as  yee  would  hav  y™  doe  unto  you  :  &  in 
y*  you  will  have  peace  :  &  wether  you  heare  or 
forbeare,  I  am  cleer  of  you  before  the  Lord,  the 
God  of  my  salvation  in  whom  I  trust  &  desire 
for  ever  to  follow  &  obey  both  in  prosperiti  and 
in  adversity.  J.  S. 

They  lust  after  bloud,  it  is  just  with  God  they 
should  have  bloud  to  drink.  From  y*  house  of 
corection  in  boston,  y®  21  of  y"  8  mo"^  6L 

For  y^  hands  of  ye  Deputies  in  Generall,  at 
present  asembled  in  Boston.  Let  this  be  read 
amongst  you,  because  it  conserns  you  all. 


APPENDIX.  223 


SARAH   GIBBONS  AND  DOROTHY   WAUGH. 

On  page  96  the  reader  will  find  it  stated  that 
in  2d  mo.,  1658,  Sarah  Gibbons  and  Dorothy 
Waugh  entered  a  church  and  broke  some  bottles 
in  the  presence  of  the  minister,  "  as  a  sign  of  his 
emptiness."  Dr.  George  E.  Ellis  relates  this 
story  on  page  114  of  "Massachusetts  and  its 
Early  History,"  and  again  on  page  184,  volume  i., 
of  "  The  Memorial  History  of  Boston,"  giving  as 
his  authority  for  it  a  "Quaker's  Journal,  New 
England's  Ensigne,"  by  Humphrey  Norton, 
which  he  found  in  the  British  Museum.  Hum- 
phrey Norton  and  John  Rouse,  who  assisted 
Norton  in  writing  this  journal,  were  banished 
Quakers,  who,  before  they  were  banished,  suf- 
fered inhuman  physical  torture  at  the  hands  of 
the  Massachusetts  authorities.  They  were  here 
in  1658,  and  published  their  tract  in  London  in 
1659.  Testimony  from  such  a  source,  especially 
if  to  the  discredit  of  the  Quakers,  is  unimpeach- 
able ;  and  as  Dr.  Ellis  expressly  states  that  he 
"  copied  "  the  bottle  incident  from  the  "  Ensigne," 
hitherto  I  have  not  hesitated  to  give  it  credence, 
and  it  has  appeared  in  the  previous  editions  of 
this  book  without  even  a  question-mark.  Until 
recently  I  did  not  suppose  a  copy  of  "  New  Eng- 
land's Ensigne  "  could  be  found  in  this  country, 
for  my  efforts  to  obtain  one,  by  advertising  and 
otherwise,  while  collecting  material  for  the  pre- 


224  APPENDIX. 

ceding  pages,  were  entirely  fruitless.  Since  then 
I  learned  that  there  is  one  in  the  Carter  Brown  \ 
library  at  Providence,  and  I  have  examined  it  ' 
very  carefully.  On  page  104  I  found  a  full  re- 
port of  the  visit  of  the  two  women  at  the  church 
on  a  lecture  day,  "about  the  13th  day  of  2d  mo., 
1658,"  the  exact  date  as  given  by  Dr.  Ellis;  but 
no  mention  of,  or  reference  to,  the  bottle  episode 
is  made  either  on  this  or  any  other  page  of  the 
book.  The  women  are  represented  as  waiting 
quietly  until  after  the  minister  (John  Norton) 
had  done  speaking.  They  then  attempted  to 
address  the  audience,  but  were  promptly  "  pulled 
down  "  by  an  officer  and  carried  to  prison.  The 
account  is  substantially  the  same  as  that  given 
by  Bishop,  "Whiting,  Sewel  and  Besse,  all  of 
wliom  fail  to  mention  any  unseemly  behavior  on 
the  part  of  the  women. 

In  view  of  this  surprising  revelation,  it  is  in- 
cumbent upon  Dr.  Ellis  to  produce  other  and  ab- 
solutely irrefutable  authority  for  his  version  of 
the  event ;  and  until  he  does,  it  will  be  safe  to 
assume  that  it  properly  belongs  to  the  long  list 
of  errors  that  mar  his  efforts  to  write  an  histor- 
ical account  of  the  pioneer  Quakers  of  Massachu- 
setts. R.  p.  H. 

12th  mo.,  1886. 


INDEX. 


Allen's  (R.  H.  )  New  England 
Tragedies  in  Prose  criticised, 
54,  73. 

Ambrose,  Alice,  publicly 
whipped,  100. 

Austin,  Ami,  arrives  in  Boston, 
34 ;  her  arrest  and  persecu- 
tion, 35-40. 

Barclay,  Robert,  hiuniliates  liim- 
self ,  (i-S ;  his  views  on  the 
Scriptures,  18  ;  on  the  civil 
law  and  magistracy,  20 ;  liis 
qualifications  as  a  writer,  28. 

Barclay's  (Robert)  Apology,  17, 
28  ;  Catechism,  28  ;  Anarchy 
of  the  Ranters,  28. 

Batter,  Edmund,  treasurer  of 
Salem,  50  ;  insults  a  Quaker 
woman,  51  ;  attempts  to  sell 
the  Southwicks,  52  ;  perse- 
cutes the  Quakers,  9G. 

Baxter,  Richard,  on  the  Inward 
Light,  19. 

Belliugham,  Gov.  Richard,  con- 
venes the  council  for  banish- 
ment of  Ann  Austin  and  Mary 
Fisher,  30  ;  succeeds  Endicott, 
192  ;  death  of,  192. 

Besse's  (Josepli)  Collection  of 
Sufferings,  72,  183,  188,  224. 

Biddle,  Jolin,  the  father  of  Eng- 
lish Unitarians,  4. 

Bishop's  (George)  Xeii<  England 
Judged,  30,  4(1,  43,  Od,  70,  94, 
96,  104,  l(i2,  172,  175,  2(12,  224. 

"  Body  of  the  Liberties,"  the, 
extracts  from,  34,  71. 

Bowers,  Barbara,  trial  of,  200. 

Brend,  William,  barbarous  treat- 
ment of,  .57,  ()2-07. 

Brewster,  M  vrgaret,  99,  104  ; 
trial  of,  193-202. 

15 


Brigham,  Judge  William,  on  the 
Quakers  in  New  Plymouth  Col- 
ony, 115. 

Brome's  (James)  Travels  over 
Scotland,  England,  and  Wales, 
8,  10. 

Bryant  and  Gay's  Popular  His- 
tory of  the  United  States,  105. 

Burden,  Anne,  111  ;  imprisoned 
and  banished,  112. 

Burrough,  Edward,  21,  25 ;  his 
appeal  to  the  King,  188. 

Burotow,  John,  letter  of,  to  hia 
persecutors,  87,  217. 

Carlyle's  (Thomas)  opinion  of 
George  Fox,  13. 

Charles  I.,  overthrow  of,  2. 

Charles  II.,  King  of  England, 
orders  laws  against  the  Qua- 
kers suspended,  55,  189. 

Charter,  Royal,  38,  70. 

Cliattam,  Catherine,  dresses  in 
sackcloth  and  ashes,  97. 

Chaunoey,  Cliarles,  President  of 
Harvard  College,  94. 

Christison,  Weulock,  letter  of, 
CO ;  sentenced  to  death,  01  ; 
his  speech  to  the  court,  87  ; 
harbored  by  Eliakim  Ward- 
well,  100. 

Coddington,  William,  33. 

Coercion  and  persecution  imder 
Oiarles  II.  and  James  II.,  3. 

Coit's  (Thomas  Winthrop)  Puri- 
tanism, 10,  11,  12. 

Coleman,  Ann,  torture  of,  G2,  99. 

Colonial  laws  for  suppression  of 
the  Quakers,  133-152. 

Copeland,  John,  111;  petitions 
the  King  in  behalf  of  tlie  Mas- 
sachusetts Quakers,  183-187. 

Cotton,  Rev.  Seaborn,  a  perse- 
cutor of  the  Quakers,  100. 


226 


INDEX. 


Cromwell,  Oliver,  3. 

Cudworth,  James,  proscribed  for 
entertainiug  Quakers,  113  ;  let- 
ter of,  114,  KU. 

Dexter's  (Rev.  H.  M. )  As  to 
Roger  Williams,  61  ;  its  calum- 
nies against  the  Quakers,  73-75. 

Dyer,  Mary,  sentenced  to  death, 
5S ;  reprieved  and  subse- 
quently executed,  GO  ;  her  let- 
ter to  the  General  Court,  89 ; 
her  courageous  bearing.  111 ; 
letter  of,  20G. 

Early  Quakers,  doctrines  of  the, 
16-31. 

Edwards,  Thomas,  publishes  the 
Grangraena,  5. 

Edmundson's  (William)  Journal, 
97. 

Ellis,  Rev.  George  E.,  his  treat- 
ment of  the  Quakers  consid- 
ered, 78,  129  ;  his  uiconsisten- 
oies,  79-82 ;  his  errors,  223,  224. 

EUis's  (Rev.  George  E.)  Massa- 
chusetts and  its  Early  History, 
32,  82,  98,  125,  223,  224. 

Ellwood,  Thomas,  21. 

Endicott,  .John,  Governor  of  Mas- 
sachusetts Colony,  33  ;  bullies 
and  threatens  the  Quakers,  43  ; 
denounced  by  Mary  Prince, 
44 ;  fines  Upsall,  48  ;  defends 
execution  of  the  Quakers,  59 ; 
sentences  Cliristison  to  death, 
62  ;  letter  of  Mary  Trask  and 
Margaret  Smith  to,  84 ;  re- 
ceives and  obeys  the  King's 
Missive,  191  :  renews  his  per- 
secutions, 191  ;  death  of,  192. 

Examination  of  Quakers  in  Bos- 
ton, 157-161. 

Fanaticism  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  6,  9. 

Featley,  Rev.  Dr.  Daniel,  his 
tract  on  the  Anabaptists,  11  ; 
his  hostility  to  Milton,  11.  j 

Felton.  Benjamin,  90. 

Fisher,  Mary,  arrives  in  Boston, 
34  :  her  arrest  and  persecution, 
35-40.  I 

Fourbish,   William,   put    in  the  ; 
stocks,  100. 

Fiske's  (John)  careless  repetition 
of  slanders  against  the  Qua- 
kers, 75-77. 


Forster's  (John)  Staiesmen  of 
England,  9. 

Fox,  George,  visits  and  speaks 
in  steeple  -  houses,  5 ;  the 
founder  of  Quakerism,  13 ; 
opinions  of  Macaulay  and  Car- 
lyle  concerning,  13 ;  his  par- 
ents, 14 ;  early  religious  ex- 
perience, 14  ;  his  mission 
revealed  to  him,  15  ;  his  views 
on  magistracy,  25. 

Gardner's  (George)  wife  fined  for 
absence  from  church,  128. 

Gardner,  Hored,  whipping  of, 
116,  172. 

Gibbons,  Sarah.  96,  111,  116,  223. 

Gough's  (John)  History  of  the 
Quakers,  173. 

Gould,  Daniel,  letter  of,  to  the 
rulers  and  people  of  Boston, 
90,  210. 

Grahame's  (James)  History  of 
the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the 
United  States  of  Xorth  Amer- 
ica, 72. 

Gunning,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  Ely,  4. 

Higginson,  Rev.  John,  of  Salem, 
94,  95. 

Hireling  mLoistry,  a,  Milton's 
views  concerning,  20. 

Holder,  Christopher,  111. 

Hooten,  Elizabeth,  94 ;  barba- 
rously whipped,  97 ;  the  first 
convert  to  Quakerism,  97  ;  her 
sulferings,  177. 

Hubberthorn,  Richard,  26. 

Hutchinson,  Mrs.  Ann,  banished, 
33. 

Hutchinson  Papers,  the,  33,  94. 

Inward  Light,  the,  doctrine  of, 

16,  118,  132, 
Ivimey's  (Joseph)  Z(/e  and  Times 

of  John  Milton,  11,  12. 

Janney's  (Samuel    M. )  Life  of 

George  Fox,  29. 
Jones,  Margaret,  39  ;  hanged  for 

witchcraft,  41. 

"King's  Missive,"  the,  55,  189- 

191. 
Kitchin,  Elizabeth,  insulted  by 

Edmund  Batter,  51. 

Laud's  (Archbishop)  abortive  at- 


INDEX. 


227 


tempt  to  reconcile  Rome  and 
the  Anglican  Church,  2 ;  exe- 
cution of,  2. 

Leddra,  William,  imprisoned  and 
scourged,  02-64  ;  put  to  death, 
CI  ;  letter  of,  208. 

Lodge's  (H.  C.)  A  Short  His- 
tory of  the  English  Colonies  in 
America,  78. 

MacaiUay's  (T.  B.)  estimate  of 
George  Fox,  13. 

Marsden's  (J.  B.)  Later  Puri- 
tans, 10. 

Massachusetts  Archives,  the,  ex- 
tracts from,  153-lGl,  182,  210, 
213,  217,  220. 

Massachusetts  Historical  Society, 
Proceedings  of  the,  82. 

MissachuGetts,  General  Court  of, 
enacts  laws  against  the  Qua- 
kers, 45,  48,  49,  53  ;  suspends 
and  reenacts  them,  55  ;  employs 
John  Norton  to  write  a  refuta- 
tion of  Quaker  errors,  120  ;  pe- 
titions to,  against  the  Quakers, 
121,  1.53. 

Massachusetts  Records,  70,  191- 
192  ;  extracts  from,  133-152, 
175-177. 

Masson's  (David)  Life  of  Milton, 
5,  23. 

Mather,  Cotton,  his  abuse  of  the 
Quakers,  74  ;  his  Magnalia,  75. 

Memorial  History  of  Boston,  the, 
82,  85,  98,  111,  125,  223. 

Miles,  Mary,  trial  of,  109. 

Milton,  John,  epigram  on  the 
Presbyterians,  3;  denounced  as 
a  pestilent  Anabaptist,  11  ;  an- 
athematizes the  Bishops,  11  ; 
replies  to  Salmasius's  vindica- 
tion of  Charles  I.,  12;  his  views 
on  a  hireling  ministry,  20. 

"  Minutes  of  tlie  Magistrates  "  of 
Boston,  122. 

Mott,  Lucretia,  129. 

Muggleton,  Ludowick,  13. 

Munster  iniquities,  tlie,  45,  46. 

Naylor's  (James)  fantastic  ex- 
travagances, 29. 

Neal's  (Daniel)  History  of  the 
Puritans,  2,  8. 

New  Englnnd\^  Ensigne  (Norton's 
Journal),  223. 

N3whouse,  Thomas,  96, 104. 

Newland,  W.,  imprisoned,  114. 

Norton,  Iluiiiplirey,  branded  for 
heresy,  50  ;  journal  of,  92,  223. 


Norton,  Rev.  John,  leading  min- 
ister of  the  Massachusetts  Col- 
ony, 33  ;  his  hatred  of  the  Qua- 
kers, 57,  58,  67  ;  his  scriptural 
argument  against  them,93,120; 
recompensed  therefor,  121;  hia 
defense  of  Brend's  gaoler.  121. 
224. 

Parker's  (Hon.  Joel)  attack  upon 
early  Friends,  74. 

Peun's  (William)  Rise  and  Prog- 
ress of  the  People  called  Qua- 
kers, 29. 

Petition,  for  severer  laws  against 
the  Quakers,  121,  153 ;  to  the 
King  for  interference,  183-187. 

Phelps,  Nicholas,  fined  and  im- 
prisoned, 127. 

Philanthrophy  of  the  Quakers, 
31. 

Presbyterians,  the,  bigotry  and 
cruelty  of,  2  ;  Milton's  epigram 
on,  3. 

Prince,  Mary,  denounces  Eudi- 
cott,  44  ;  imprisonment  of.  111. 

Prymie's  ridicule  of  church 
choirs,  11. 

Puritanism,  defined,  1;  its  growth 
and  spread,  2-12  ;  Quakerism 
an  outgrowth  of,  123. 

Puritans,  the  English,  Scriptural 
names  adopted  by,  8,  9 ;  de- 
spoil churches  and  cathedrals, 
10. 

Puritans  in  Massachusetts,  their 
persecutions  of  the  Quakers, 
32-68,  99-104,  126-128  ;  their 
assertion  that  Quakers  liad  no 
riglit  to  enter  the  colony  re- 
futed, 60-71  ;  their  strong  and 
abusive  language,  94  ;  modem 
apologies  for,  105  ;  their  accu- 
sations against  the  Quakers, 
108  ;  tlieir  abhorence  of  Qua- 
ker opinions  the  cause  of  the 
persecution,  117  ;  their  denun- 
ciations of  the  Inward  Light, 
118  ;  their  intolerance,  119  ; 
their  plan  of  government  a 
failure,  131. 

"  Quaker,"  a  term  applied  in  de- 
rision, 30. 

Quakerism  an  outgrowth  of  Puri- 
tanism, 123. 

Quakers,  the,  their  doctrines  and 
beliefs,  16-31  ;  their  views  on 
the  Inward  Light,  16, 118  ;  on 


228 


INDEX 


liberty  of  thought  and  speech, 
16  ;  ou  tlie  Scriptures,  17  ;  ou 
an  ordained  ministry  and 
church  titlies,  19,  20  ;  on  bap- 
tism, cominimion,  prayers,  and 
oaths,  22  ;  on  the  Sabbath, 
22  ;  on  titles,  22  ;  on  war,  23  ; 
on  marriage,  23  ;  a  law-abiding 
people,  25  ;  persecution  of,  29  ; 
style  themselves  Friends,  30  ; 
their  test  of  membership,  30  ; 
modes  of  procedure,  30,  31  ; 
philanthropy,  31  ;  arrival  of 
Quaker  missionaries  at  Bos- 
ton, Massacliusetts,  32,  34 ; 
their  arrest,  35  ;  abuse  and  ban- 
ishment of,  38-40  ;  arrival  of 
others  at  Boston,  42  ;  more  im- 
prisoned and  banished,  42  ;  the 
General  Court  enacts  laws 
against,  45,  48,  49,  53 ;  women 
stripped  and  wliipped,  51,  G2  ; 
falsely  branded  as  vagabonds, 
53  ;  temporarily  relieved  by 
the  "  King's  Missive,"  55  ; 
mutilated,  hanged,  banished, 
and  scourged,  5(5,  57,  G2-GG ; 
popular  sympathy  with,  57-59, 
66-G8  ;  their  right  to  enter 
the  colony,  69,  70  ;  four  fifths 
of  them  residents  before  the 
persecution,  71  ;  slanders 
against,  72-74  ;  their  treat- 
ment by  modern  "  histori- 
ans," 75-82  ;  tlieir  testimonies 
considered  and  vindicated,  82- 
91 ;  not  guilty  as  a  body,  of 
improper  behavior,  91 ;  special 
accusations  against  examined, 
94 ;  the  cases  of  Lydia  Ward- 
well  and  Deborah  Wilson,  99- 
104 ;  interruptions  of  church 
service,  107  ;  their  custom  of 
wearing  the  hat,  109  ;  persecu- 
tion of,  in  tlie  Plymouth  Col- 
ony, 114  ;  their  religious  opin- 
ions the  real  cause  of  the 
persecution,  117  ;  their  leading 
tenets  common  with  those  of 
the  Puritans,  117  ;  radical  dif- 
ferences,119;  summary  of  pros- 
ecutions against,  in  Boston, 
122  ;  tliemselves  Puritans,  125  : 
their  final  triumph,  128  ;  their 
religion  still  an  active  force, 
132  ;  colonial  laws  for  their 
suppression,  133-152  ;  examin- 
ation of,  in  Boston,  157-lGl  j 


order  of  banishment,  182  ;  pe- 
tition the  King  to  interfere, 
183  ;  the  King's  Missive,  189, 
190  ;  proscriptive  laws  reen- 
acted,  191  ;  trials  of,  193-202  ; 
letters  of  William  Robinson, 
Marmaduke  Stevenson,  Mary 
Dyer,  and  other  leading 
Friends,  202-222. 

Rayner,  Rev.,  instigates  whip- 
ping of  Quaker  women,  100. 

Religious  controversy  and  debate 
in  England  during  the  seven- 
teenth century,  3. 

Robinson,  William,  sentenced  to 
death,  58  ;  letter  of,  202. 

Roots,  Thomas,  9G. 

Rouse,  Jolm,  petitions  the  King 
in  behalf  of  the  Massachusetts 
Quakers,  183-187,  223. 

Saltonstall,  Sir  Richard,  deplores 
persecution  by  the  Founders, 
33. 

Scriptures,  the,  Quaker  views 
concerning,  17. 

Scudder,  H.  E..  124. 

Sects  in  the  seventeenth  century 
enumerated,  5. 

SewaU's  (.Judge  Samuel)  defini- 
tion of  Quakerism,  75  ;  Diary, 
99. 

Sewel's  (William)  History  of  the 
Quakers,  23,  29,  177,  iSS,"  206, 
208,  224. 

Shattuck,  Samuel,  petitions  the 
King  in  behalf  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Quakers,  183. 

Skerry,  Henry,  9G. 

Smith,  Margaret,  letter  of,  to 
Governor  Endicott,  84,  213. 

Smith,  Richard,  111. 

Southcote,  Joanna,  13. 

Southwick,  Coiisader,  122. 

Southwick,  Daniel  and  Provi- 
ded, ordered  to  be  sold  into 
slavery,  50 ;  Provided  fined, 
127. 

Southwick,  Josiah,  addresses  a 
letter  to  the  General  Court,  88, 
175,  220. 

Southwick  (Southick),  Laurence 
and  Cassandra,  sufferings  of, 
173  ;  Laurence,  letter  of,  175. 

Stevenson,  Marmaduke,  sen- 
tenced to  death,  58  ;  letter  of, 
202. 


INDEX. 


229 


Temple,  Col.,  endeavors  to  pre- 
vent execution  of  Quakers,  CO. 

Thirstone,  Thomas,  111. 

Toleration  fostered  under  the 
Commonwealth,  3. 

Tomkins,  Mary,  publicly 

whipped,  100. 

Trask,  Mary,  letter  of,  to  Gov- 
ernor Endicott,  84,  213. 

Upsall,  Nicholas,  sends  provi- 
sions to  imprisoned  Quakers, 
36  ;  laments  anti-Quaker  legis- 
lation, 47  ;  fined  and  banished, 

48. 

Vane,  Sir  Henry,  3,  33. 
Very,  Nathaniel,  129. 

Wardwell,  Eliakim,   99 ;   put  in 

the  stocks,  100. 
Wardwell,    Lydia,   case    of,  99- 

102 ;    her    cruel    pimishment, 

104. 


Wardwell,  Thomas,  99. 

Waugh,  Dorothy,9n,  111,116,223. 

Whitehead,  Mary,  111. 

Whiting,  John,  refutes  Cotton 
Mather's  slanders,  76. 

Whiting's  (Jolui)  Truth  and  In- 
nocency  Defended,  74,  7G,  224. 

Whittier's  (John  G. )  lines  on  Cas- 
sandra Soutliwick,  53  :  poem 
on  the  King's  Missive,  189. 

Williams,  Roger,  driven  into  e.x- 
Ue,  33. 

Wilson,  Deborah,  the  case  of, 
104. 

Winthrop,  John,  Governor  of 
Connecticut,  protests  against 
hanging  Quakers,  GO. 

Winthrop,  John,  Governor  of 
Massaclmsetts,  regrets  his  per- 
secution of  "heresy,"  33. 

Winthorp,  Samuel,  son  of  Gov. 
Winthrop,  a  Quaker,  71. 

Winthrop's  (John)  Journal,  40. 

Wright,  Lydia,  trial  of,  197. 


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